I'll Never Leave You: Behind Deep Sorrows
by JibanyanAssassin
Summary: One year has passed since I saved Dagger from his curse. Everything went fine, but lately something wasn't right. Things quickly took a turn after receiving a strange note one night. I just wanted a normal life, but I guess that's going to be delayed once again.
1. One Year Later

One year since the events that gave me life again. Saving Dagger.

Now, in that year we moved to Halso, bought a nice house by the ocean with a massive golden beach. It was nice. That year went normal enough, I was just so glad I was able to save Dagger from his curse.

Anyways, lately we've been doing whatever we liked. We owned a massive plot of property, a private beach, and everything. Honestly, it wasn't easy. Worked overtime, had three different jobs, it was pretty bad. But Dagger helped, and we finally had enough cash to buy this nice house. Our lives were perfect.

For that torture house I lived in for months, possibly years, I forgot, I just walked away without saying anything. I didn't want to deal with their abuse anymore. I left the only things I had behind in there to start anew.

Anyways, I was sitting down on the glittering sand around seven in the afternoon. It was summer and the sun was still in the sky, beginning to set. The sun sunk in front of the ocean, creating the perfect scene. I always enjoyed sitting there everyday, same time, watching the sun slowly sink down.

I just sat there, holding my mom's pendant in my paw.

"I wish you were here mom and dad..." I said, holding the pendant to my chest.

Staying there for a few more minutes, just holding the pedant close, I heard a voice.

"Still there? Come on, foods ready."

Dagger stood behind me with a smile.

"What's for dinner tonight?" I asked.

"I cooked some burna soup, mainly for me. I know you don't like spicy foods. For you I made some spike berry tacos." He replied.

Smiling, I nodded.

"Alright, be there in a minute." I said back.

He nodded back and turned around and walked back indoors. Turning around, I looked at the golden waters. I then got up and brushed myself off. Nearly starving, I jogged to the house and went in. Once in, I sat down at the table with Dagger. We began eating, since I hadn't ate all day. And midway through our dinner, he looked up.

"So Gold. What's your plan tomorrow?" He asked.

"I'm not sure… I don't really have much planned." I replied.

"Well, I'm going into town today to get some stuff. Wanna come?" He asked again.

"I think I'll stay behind. Now that I think of it, I do need to finish some stuff that I hadn't finished." I said.

"Oh… Okay. Should take more then an hour or two." He said.

After that quick conversation, we continued our meal. And once we were done, I felt tired. So wanting to get some sleep, I told Dagger. He said he'll stay up a bit longer and follow soon later. I just nodded and walked upstairs. Opening my door, I walked in and placed the pendant on my table. Laying on my bed, I just stared at the ceiling. Closing my eyes, I faded into a sleep state.

The next morning, I awoke in a dazed state. I groaned and got up, stretching. Looking to Dagger's bed, I saw he wasn't there. I suppose he went already. So after waking up and taking a shower, I walked downstairs to make some breakfast. After eating, I messed around on my phone for a bit, not really doing much, but after growing bored, I walked outside to the beach. The sun was high, and the weather was just perfect like always in Halso. After walking towards the beach, I began doing my own activities.

Now, about an hour later, I heard Dagger arrive home. I finished up and went to greet him. After getting the stuff he bought put away, we were left there, wondering what to do. Luckily Dagger had something planned almost instantly. He perked up and told me we should go down to the surfing center, as recently Halso opened up a surfing area for summer. And I liked this idea, so grabbing my stuff, we exited and began our small walk.

The walk was nice and quiet, just us talking to each other. We then arrived at the surfing location, and it was filled with others just having their own fun. And throughout that year, I managed to interact with others, and now is very open, so it didn't really bother me.

So to skip all the random stuff that day, it was night. I just sat in the kitchen, trying to complete some stuff I needed done. Dagger was out with Xcon, leaving me home alone. Xcon, though being from the country side really started liking city life as well. She still wishes that we could've moved to Yuka, but I don't really like the cold. Pretty sure she wanted to live near Eclipse and Shine. But she didn't really protest when I said we were moving to Halso.

Xcon kinda accepted it and stuff. Also, Xcon doesn't live with us. She lives close by though, she just wanted to live in a nearby house by a river that connects to our beach.

So with that out of the way, I stood behind to finish my stuff. Those two were off doing whatever they were doing, and I just listened to music on low and tried finishing my stuff. Pretty much a simple night for me.

But as I continued working, I suddenly heard knocking at the door. Looking back towards the front door, I was confused. It was about seven at night, and someone was knocking. So a bit curious to who it was, since I didn't really knew anyone, I got up and walked towards the door. I unlocked it and turned the knob. Opening it, I saw there was no one there.

"Really…?" I mumbled, thinking it was a prank.

But before I closed the door, I looked down to see an envelope.

"Huh…? What's this?" I said, confused.

I bent down and grabbed the pinkish blue envelope. I didn't really knew who this could've been from. Once again, I don't really have any known friends other then Dagger, Xcon and a few random friends I met throughout the year. So I walked a bit out and looked around, seeing no one. We had a pretty big field, which confused me even further. No one could had ran out of view before I opened the door. So a bit creep out, I walked back in the house and locked the door.

Walking towards the kitchen table, I sat down and opened the envelope. Within in, was a paper of course. So pulling it out, the paper was pink like the envelope. Guess whoever made this liked pink and blue. Anyways, unfolding the paper within, I saw a few words in neatly done writing.

"Remember me? Think you could've gotten rid of me that easily? -J"

Even more creep out at this, I suddenly remembered. A year ago. I received something just like this, the same colored envelope, and the mysteriously J at the end of the post. I was so confused and concerned now. Who was this J that sent me this. I just simply put it back in the envelope and tossed it in the trash. I decided to keep this from Dagger, since it was probably a prank. But somewhere in me, I knew this might be a stalker situation. I don't know many Pokemon with a name starting with J.

I just shook this feeling for now.

Returning to my work, I just waited for Dagger to come home. Once he arrived an hour later, I decided to just go to sleep. And so I jumped in my bed and closed my eyes, thinking about who this mysterious Pokemon was...


	2. The Mysterious Sender

Opening my eyes, I just laid there. The sun shined in which felt nice. I stood like this for a bit till I decided to get up. Sitting on my bed, I looked over to see Dagger asleep.

"Hmm… Only nine in the morning..." I told myself.

Sighing and getting up, I walked out of our room and stepped outside for a minute, just enjoying the warm weather. I just sat on the stairs, wondering what to do. I did have something planned today and needed to eat real quick. So getting up, I walked back indoors and went to the kitchen. Pulling a pan out, I cooked up some stuff. After finishing up, I ate and sat back. I kind of wanted to wake up Dagger, since it was quite boring, but he had a long night, so I left him to sleep in.

After a bit, I got up and walked outside once again. I had some stuff that I needed to do very soon, so I started walking to my destination.

It would take a while to finish the plans I had for that day. First of all, I needed to meet up with a fellow working friend from my job. The reason was for some random business so I won't go into detail with that. Next was actual work, which isn't important either. So then four in the afternoon arrived. I got off work and had one last thing I needed to do. I had to visit Xcon since she had something for me.

After that, I can finally return home, which I bet Dagger has been bored out of his mind all day. So not wanting to keep him waiting any longer, which I already kinda failed, I quickly made my way to Xcon house.

I started jogging to get there quicker. But as I did so, I suddenly stopped. I felt like something was off. I was in the middle of a grassy field, and it felt like something was watching me. Of course everyone must get that feeling if their alone. But this feeling was just to strong.

So after a second of standing still, listening for any noise, I quickly turned my head back. Scanning the surrounding forest and fields, I saw nothing. Remembering back a year ago, I got those feelings a lot when I was doing my challenges. It just felt like someone was watching. That one night a year ago, I felt this powerful feeling when I went to walk.

"H- hello?" I called out.

Nothing but the light wind blowing made sound. I just shook my head.

"Maybe my mind messing with me..." I told myself, turning back.

I began walking again, slowly to listen for a few minutes. But after not hearing anything, I just told myself it was nothing and I continued my walk to Xcon's place.

After ten minutes of walking, I finally reached her house. Knocking on it, I waited. A few seconds later, she opened the door and greeted me.

"Howdy. Glad you can make it." She smiled.

"Yeah, had some stuff to do first." I replied, walking in.

She then lead me to the living room. I sat down and she looked at me.

"Just give me a moment." She said, walking into another room.

I waited there for a few minutes when she finally walked back out. She handed me the exact same envelope that I received last night. I felt a bit odd when I saw it.

"I received this yesterday night. Guess whoever mixed up our places, since it has your name on it." She explained, giving me it.

Grabbing it, I just looked at it. She noticed my silent and spoke.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"U- um no. Thanks…" I said, getting up.

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll be here if you need anything." She said.

I nodded my head and headed for the front door. Opening it, we said our farewells and I began my walk to my place.

As I was walking home, I kept staring at the piece of paper. I was so confused. And honestly I was afraid of what was in it. Another paper saying something I bet. I wondered why Xcon received it though. It was weird, I didn't know what to think of it. But not wanting to overthink it at the moment, I kept walking to my house, once there I'll see what it says. I pulled my phone out and called Dagger. I explained I'm coming home and see how he is doing. He was fine he said, which I was happy to hear. We talked for a minute then after hanging up, I continued my walk. As I was walking down the grassy pathway from earlier, I suddenly heard a voice. It was to faint to hear, and I stopped.

Looking around, I noticed the sounds coming from the forest. I was a bit cautious with this. But with curiosity, I began walking in the direction of the voice. As I got closer, I believed I heard a female voice too. So I continued through the bit of bushes and trees till I came to an opening. After clearing the greenery, I saw a Leafeon and Glaceon. They were by a lake.

"Huh…?" I mumbled.

I guess they were sightseers or something, as they were decked out with travel accessories. Wanting to get home, but was interested in them, I decided to greet them quickly. So moving out of my hiding spot, I walked up to them.

"Hello…?" I said, waving.

They looked up, surprised to see another around, but they smiled and wave.

"Hey there." The Leafeon said in a cheerful voice.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"We're just going around the place. We're explorers." Leafeon said.

"Oh? Sounds fun. Well, um, I'm Gold." I introduced myself.

"I'm Ivy. This is my girlfriend, Icy." Ivy said.

"Nice to meet you. Well, I should be getting home… Just stopped since I heard voices." I said.

"Okay, always nice to meet someone." Ivy said.

After that, I got back on my path and continued home. A few minutes of walking, I arrived home. I was pretty tired and wanted to relax, so I just grabbed something to eat and sat on the couch. Moments of doing so, Dagger walked into the room, happy to see me.

"You're back? It was pretty boring being home alone for most of the day..." He said.

"Sorry… Had to do more things then I expected…" I replied.

"Oh, that's fine. Well, there's still some time of daylight. I'm heading down to the beach. Wanna come?" He asked.

"Sure, I'll be down in a moment." I replied.

He accepted and walked out of the door. Once he was out of the house, I pulled out the note from my pocket and opened it. Pulling the paper out, I began reading.

"Glittering lake, tomorrow at 8:00 PM. -L"

Placing the page down, I was confused. Glittering lake was a lake near here. I was a bit curious with this though. Maybe I can finally know who this J was. Though I didn't want to, I decided to go. So tomorrow at 8:00 PM.

I shoved the paper back into the envelope and threw it in a drawer. I didn't really want to worry much about it at the moment, and decided to just relax with Dagger. My legs were killing me, so I wanted to do so at the moment. And that's what I did.

Opening the door, I walked down to the beach to enjoy the sunset with Dagger...


	3. A Familiar Face

Waking up the next morning, I got ready for the day.

"Okay… Eight at night? Sounds a bit like a trap..." I said, grabbing the can of pepper spray from my counter.

"Be prepared I suppose." I said.

I then did my normal things for that day. And soon it was nearing eight. The sky was a dim orange, as the sun was just about out of sight. I was sitting on the couch, getting ready to go to the destination. That's then Dagger walked up to me.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Just gonna walk around a bit. Be back soon." I said, getting up.

"Oh… Okay. I guess I'll begin dinner then." He replied, walking into the kitchen.

I then opened the door and began my walk to the lake. After about twenty minutes, I arrived there. I didn't really see anything. I was a bit on edge, and carefully made my way around the lake. I got half way around the lake when I suddenly heard something in the brush behind me. Turning around quickly, I scanned the forest, trying to see if I could spot anyone.

As I was scanning, I slowly backed up. But as I did so, I heard something behind me, and moments later I was tackled to the ground with a painful thud. Struggling for a few seconds, I threw whoever off my back and turned around with the can of spray in my paw. Before I blinded the one who tackled me, I stopped.

"A lot stronger then I thought..." The voice spoke.

Stepping back, he got up and turned on a lantern. I stumbled when I saw it was that Minccino. The same Minccino from a year ago. He sighed and spoke.

"Surprised to see me? Yeah… You left me. Left the legendary Luk behind." He smirked.

"W- what? That's because you told me Dagger would die. He didn't!" I got up to his face.

"It would appear so. Say, do you have those items? Those two items I gave you from the past eight item challenges?" He asked.

"Why does it matter?" I asked.

"Those are way more valuable then you think… Do you or not?" He asked again.

I groaned.

"Yes… Somewhere… Want them back for something?" I asked him.

"No, keep them. Like I said, they're useless to me. Now your wondering how I found you, huh…?" He said.

"Yes, in fact I do. How did you find me?" I replied.

"Well, Yalso is a massive place. Finding the right Pokemon that knew you before lead me here. Then I suddenly spotted you around town. Those letters were also sent by me of course." He said.

"So you found me… What do you even want..." I said in an annoyed voice.

He looked to the side for a moment for snapping her head back to me.

"You'll find out soon enough… I need your help." He said.

"Help? Seriously? You're suppose to be the all mighty legendary who cleared each regions challenges alone." I said.

"Yeah, but this requires more then my skills. Now you'll help me, and I'll make sure to repay you." He gave me an angry stare.

"I don't want to, but if you mention payment, then I suppose… Better keep your word though." I said.

"I always do… Now, you better return home. Meet here again when I give you another note." He said, backing off into the brush.

Once I was alone, I quickly rushed home to Dagger.

"Can't believe he's back..." I mumbled to myself.

After walking home, I opened the door just in time for dinner. Dagger peeked around the corner and greeted me, saying food was just finished. I thanked him and sat down to eat. Dagger sat across the table and started chatting. We just chatted like we did during dinner. This went on for about ten or so minutes, and when we finished, I got up and told Dagger I will be in my room. I then went up to my room and turned the TV on. Jumping into the bed, I began thinking about Luk. Why was he back, and what did he want. We only knew each other for like a day before he made me mad and Eclipse, Shine and I left him. It was quite annoying, since I didn't like him. He flat out told me there were no hope whatsoever for Dagger, but I proved him wrong big time. And though I'd really not talk to him anymore, he haves something he needs help with.

I continued thinking what he could possibly want from us. But after thinking these for a few more minutes, I just sighed and forgot about it, telling myself it was probably a waste of time. So I just watched something quietly and found myself out soon later.

Waking up around five in the morning, I stared at the still night sky through the window. Rubbing my eyes, I groaned and got up. I honestly wasn't that big of a morning type. But I walked downstairs and grabbed an energy drink. Opening the front door, I stepped out in the cool air. Sitting down, I just watched the darken skies slowly brighten from the morning sun. I didn't really stay long, since I had work soon, so I returned indoors and walked into the living room. There, I saw Dagger asleep on the couch.

"Must've stood up to play some games..." I said.

I quietly walked pass him and grabbed my hat and bag. Walking upstairs, I took a quick shower and changed clothes. After all my morning stuff was done, I opened the door and walked out, locking it behind me. I then made my way to my work. The sun was just over the horizon, creating a pinkish color in the sky. It was pretty to look at. Reminds me of when I was younger. My parents and I use to watch as the sky turned pink while waiting to go to school.

Anyways, the rest of the day was quite boring. Had to deal with some stuff that annoyed me pretty much. But finally around four in the afternoon, I got off work. I went home instantly under the burning sun. And when I came home, I switched clothes and went outside again and grabbed my bike.

"Hmm… Heard that there was a new building that was finished not long ago." I thought.

Getting on my bike, I began riding to downtown. And after twenty minutes of peaceful riding, I entered the downtown zone. It was extremely busy today for some reason, and I had to walk the rest of the way. And finally after pushing pass many Pokemon I made it to my destination. A shop that I wanted to check out. Well, Dagger recommended me it.

So locking my bike to a pole, I walked in and looked quite amazed at the place. I began walking around when a Raichu appeared out of nowhere, nearly making me fall backwards.

"Oh, sorry about that." She giggled.

"Welcome to my shop! I'm Drax. I don't recall seeing your face. New visitor?" She asked.

"Um, yes. I just wanted to check around, looks like a cool place." I replied.

She excitedly nodded her head.

"It is a cool place! I have all kinds of things you can purchase. From common everyday things, to rare collectibles!" She smiled.

"Rare collectibles?" I looked interested.

"Yep. I have all kinds of rare items, some you can only buy in a set! Follow me and I'll show you!" She said, walking off.

I followed her deeper into the store, and soon found myself in a different area of the shop.

"Here in this room is all rare items! The stuff in the front is just common things you can find anywhere. But back here, there is upon hundreds of stuff you won't find anywhere else!" She said.

Looking around, I saw things that I only saw on TV.

"Is there anything special here?" I asked.

"Oh? Yep! Like this right here." She walked over to a katana.

She pulled the sword from it's protector and showed me.

"This here is made entirely out of obsidian diamond!" She said.

"Obsidian diamond? That's like at the core of the earth." I said, a bit surprised.

"Which is why I only have one. But it's going for 15,000 right now instead of 75,000." She said.

"15,000? That's pretty low for a sword like that." I replied.

"Right now the entire store is going on a mega sale, so that's why." She said.

"Oh… Well, it's a pretty cool looking sword." I said.

"Glad you think so!" She smiled, putting the sword back into the case.

"Okay, so you can browse if you want! I'll be at the front if you need anything else. Enjoy!" She said, walking off.

Looking at the sword, I remembered when I had a blood diamond sword. Sadly I lost it though. So it kinda sucked, but at least I got to use it and slashed some monsters up. Anyways, I explored around the place, seeing all kinds of cool items. I continued walking down the room till I suddenly stopped, as I noticed something very shiny.

Directing my stare towards the shiny rainbow like item, I moved some items till I found what was creating the light. An odd looking statue.

"What's this…?" I said.

Grabbing it gently, I pulled it from the back of the shelf and stared at it. It was a statue of what looked like a long gone legendary sword. I don't remember what the sword was called, I think it was called the "Sword Of Souls" or something. I looked it up a bit ago, and it said the sword was lost thousands of years ago in Champa. But that isn't really important right now.

So it was pretty much the statue of that sword, which kinda interested me. It shined this rainbow tinted color, and was made from what looked like gold. Examining it further, I saw the price tag, and I was surprised. $59.99 was the price. I did bring quite a lot of money since I got paid not long ago. Checking my pocket, I saw I had about $200 on me at the moment.

I just shrugged and decided to buy it, since it could be a cool decorative item to have in the house. As I began searching around some more, I heard my phone go off. Pulling it out, I checked and saw it was Pla. Pla was a friend that worked at the same place as me, so I didn't really think much of it. Opening up the message, I started to read.

"Want to join us in two days for a party?" The text read.

"Party?" I replied back.

Waiting for a few seconds, I received another text.

"Yeah. All of the company is having a party." It said.

"Sure, why not?" I replied back.

"Nice to hear. See you later then!" It said.

Closing my phone, I didn't really have any plans, but that means Dagger would be home alone all day long, which kinda sucked. Eh, maybe I can get him invited too.

Anyways, after that, I started searching around for a bit longer since I had some extra time. I was about to leave after ten minutes of finding nothing more that interested me, but that's when I saw it. A necklace. It glittered brightly, so I walked over. Looking over it, it had crystals as the chain and a red diamond in the middle. Only for $70.

"Geez, I might have to come here for things now..." I said, amazed due to the cheap prices.

I did grab it for Dagger, since a while back he did saw he wanted something like this. So I was pretty sure he'd love it. So after going to the front desk and paying for my stuff, I walked out and got back onto my bike, starting my journey back to my house. After returning home, I walked in with the stuff I bought. Calling for Dagger, he walked downstairs and looked at the statue.

"Went shopping?" He asked.

"Yeah, a new place just opened and decided to check it out. Got this pretty cool looking statue." I said.

Walking to the kitchen, I told him I got him something too. He showed excitement and I gave him the necklace. He looked overjoyed and hugged me, thanking me for the thing. He then got off me and put it on.

"Fits perfectly. It looks so awesome!" He smiled.

"Yep. Anyways, I am going to be at the beach." I said, opening the backdoor.

"Alright. I might join soon. Just got something to do first." He said.

I then walked outside and down to the beach. I just laid on the send and stared up at the sky. Thinking a bit, the same thought kept crossing my mind.

"What am I going to do about… Him..." I groaned, annoyed that he found me.

I tried not thinking much about it. But I know he's planning something. Something I don't know. But it probably isn't good...


	4. Ivy & Icy

"Gold…?"

"Gold, wake up."

"Wake up!"

I jolted up from the noise.

"W- what's wrong?" I slurred.

"Nothing. Get up, someone is here for you." Dagger spoke.

"A- alright..." I replied, nearly falling once up.

Throwing on a shirt, I walked downstairs and towards the front door. Opening it up, I stood in front of Ivy along with Icy.

"Huh…?" I looked confused in my tired state.

"We meet again, hah." Ivy laughed a little.

"Seems so, um… What are you two doing out here?" I still looked confused.

"Well, we were walking around to collect some stuff when we saw you. And the reason why we're here now is, I think I know you." He said.

"Know me?" I replied.

"Yep! You're the legendary who completed those challenges!" He said.

"Oh, yeah. Guess I became known after that." I said.

"You are. But anyways, Icy kept bothering me to ask, but… Can we pair up?" He said.

"Pair up?" I asked.

"Yeah, like… Let us join you." He replied.

"Er… That is behind me." I told him.

"Really? That sucks, would be so cool adventuring with a legendary. Not many complete those challenges, and they end up disappearing soon after completing them." He said.

"Well, I guess you can hang with me. I'm mostly free most of the time." I told them.

They seemed really happy to hear that.

"Okay, I got some stuff to do today. You can come around eight PM or so and we can chat." I told them.

"Oh, okay. We'll see you later then!" Ivy smiled and turned back.

They then left and I closed the door. Dagger asked who they were and I just replied they were a couple I encountered in the woods, and they were pretty cool.

"Cool." He simply replied.

"Yeah… Tonight I was planning a campfire, so I invited them." I told him.

"A campfire? Smores sounds so good right now." Dagger replied.

Dagger then walked to the couch and just sat there watching a show. He didn't show happiness and excitement like other days, so it made me a bit curious. I walked over and sat with him.

"Something the matter? Don't look like your happy self today." I told him.

"It's nothing really." He said.

"You sure? It doesn't seem like it." I replied.

"It's really nothing. I just wonder if my family still remembers me." He said.

"I'm sure they do. Why do you think that?" I asked.

"I don't know… Just always thinking about them. Still remember the day they kicked me out. My mom and dad had no emotion when they did so." He said.

"Aren't I your family? You have at least one who cares." I said.

He looked up at me a smiled weakly.

"Guess so… I'm so glad you didn't turn your back on me. Not sure where I'd end up if I didn't meet you." He said.

"Best to not think about it..." I told him.

"Yeah… Oh, not sure why I'm bringing this up now when I never did… But did you have a family?" He asked.

"No… I was a single child. I did have a cousin named Fuz… We hadn't spoken for years though..." I told him.

"Oh." He simply replied.

Rubbing Dagger's back, I just smiled.

"We're family now. Don't let anything change that." I told him.

He nodded and thanked me. I then got up and walked off to the kitchen to get some stuff. Dagger sat on the couch quietly and sighed. He then got up and walked into the kitchen with me, he suddenly hugged me and thanked me again. I smiled and gently rubbed his head, telling him that nothing will ever pull us apart. Dagger softly nodded and removed himself from me.

"W- well… I guess I gotta get ready for a camp fire." He softly smiled and walked upstairs to get ready.

I felt a warm feeling honestly. Keeping this feeling, I continued with my thing.

Once I finished, I waited for night and walked outside, opening the shed. Grabbing a few logs, I tossed them in the small fire hole I made. Using a small bit of gasoline, I drizzled it on the logs. Lighting a match, I threw it in, setting the logs ablaze. It was around nine almost at that point, and I just sat in a chair and watched the fire as it blazed.

As I was staring into the flames, I heard the backdoor open. Looking over, I saw Dagger along with Ivy and Icy.

"Sorry we're late… Icy had some stuff to do that took a little longer then expected." Ivy explained.

"Eh, it's fine. Just started the fire so you didn't miss anything." I told him.

I got up and set up three other chairs for them. They sat, looking overjoyed, probably due to me being this 'legendary'. Legendary was a pretty good title for me, but I'd rather stay being myself with no title. But I didn't tell them this.

Anyways, we simply made some stuff over the fire and ate.

"Man, this is so cool! I never thought I'd get to meet a legendary trial completer!" He said

"Um, yeah, pretty cool I assume." I said.

"Very! Anyways, it kinda sucks how you are done with trials… I really wanted to join your team and explore those places!" Ivy exclaimed.

"It was kinda tough and painful honestly… I don't think you'd find it fun." I told him.

"Yeah, I heard about that. But here you are!" He said.

"Yeah… Well, glad you got to meet a legendary trail hero." I said.

He nodded happily and went on for the next half hour. He ended up asking a load of questions of my adventures, which honestly I couldn't really give answers to all of them. Reason being there wasn't any adventures I went on that fit his question. All I did was do all trials and saved Dagger. After that, we lived here and started a new life.

Ivy and Icy seemed pleased though, which was good. He told me how cool it would be to do the trials in Yuka. It was more difficult but contained a much bigger reward. I read it gives you one spawn or something. Allowing you to receive anything you want. Money, an item, good health, all that stuff.

But as we continued talking, I looked at the time and looked surprised lightly.

"Wow, already almost one AM?" I said.

Ivy looked and gasped.

"Whoa! I completely lost track of time! It was really awesome meeting you, but we should get home!" He said, getting up.

He grabbed Icy and ran off, waving and saying we'll have another meet up soon. I waved and told him alright and got up. Putting out the small fire that was still burning, I stretched and yawned. I looked around and noticed Dagger was fast asleep in his chair. I kinda laughed, as I didn't even realized he fell asleep. I walked over and gently shook him awake. He awoke a bit startled and I told him it was time for bed.

Dagger got up slowly, groaning from being woken up. He walked in and I cleaned up the rest of the things before going inside myself.

Once inside, I didn't really feel like doing anything else due to how late it was. So I just walked upstairs and fell in my bed, seeing Dagger out instantly once again. I then closed my eyes...


	5. A Request

Sitting at the table the next morning, I was just drinking some juice when the sudden sound of knocking came from the door. Placing my glass down, I got up and walked over to the door. I looked through the little hole but saw nothing. I sighed, thinking it was someone playing a prank. But I did open the door and looked around.

It was a prank it seemed as I saw no one in sight. Shaking my head, I turned back to walk inside. But before I did so, I felt something crunch beneath my foot. Removing my foot and looking down, I noticed a piece of paper. I picked it up and unfolded it.

"Same place, same time." Was all it said.

I groaned, as I know who this was. But I must go see what he wanted.

"Ugh… Alright, lets just get this over with..." I said.

I walked back in and threw the note into the trash.

"What's that?" Dagger suddenly said behind me.

Turning around, I faced him.

"Nothing. Just some random thing I had no interest in." I told him.

"Oh… Okay. Well, are you free for the morning and half of the afternoon?" He asked.

"Not really, sorry." I told him.

"Oh, okay… I just wanted to spend some time together…" Dagger looked down.

"Don't worry, tomorrow I'll be free all day." I told him.

Dagger nodded and walked off. I was left alone in the kitchen and sighed, feeling bad that I'm keeping this hidden from him. But I didn't want him to worry, so I had to. I just kept thinking the sooner I got rid of this annoyance, the quicker I can return to a normal life. Just hope Dagger understands and doesn't ask. It already hurts lying to him. Attempting to forget about it, I awaited the same time again. And once that time came, I grabbed my bag and walked out of the door, walking back to the lake.

Upon reaching the lake, I sighed and looked around. It was deserted.

"Ugh, come on..." I groaned.

I sat down and sighed.

"Of course, waiting for him directed on time..." I told myself.

And as I awaited, I finally heard something. Before anything else, I saw him drop in front of me, quickly looking at me.

"Did you seriously wait in a tree?" I asked.

"Maybe… But good, you are here." He said.

"Yep, got that note… What do you want?" I asked again.

"Hmh, follow me." He said.

I rolled my eyes and got up, starting to follow him. Luk lead me around the lake and to a nearby tree before removing a patch of dirt. He then pulled out a small box and gave it to me.

"This is what I need from you… Do this, and you will never hear from me again, and I'll reward you." He told me.

I unlatched the lock before he quickly stopped me.

"Don't…! Open it at your place. I'll meet you here in a week." He said.

Before I was able to get a word in, he swiftly jump and climbed into the tree, rustling leaves and branches as he quickly darted away from my location.

Once I no longer heard his noisy escape, I sighed and looked at the box which was red, blue and black with an odd symbol on it. The symbol was shaped like a wing that was splattered in pink and purple colors. This symbol brought no memories if I have seen it before, this was completely new to me. This wasn't one of the symbols collected during that trail, so this completely confused me.

Maybe it wasn't even a symbol from any region challenge, so I just held the box and walked back home.

"Such a waste of time to give me a simple box…" I shook my head.

"I swear..." I added.

And once I came home, Dagger quickly ran up to me from the kitchen.

"You're back!" He exclaimed.

"Yep, I'm back." I replied.

He smiled.

"Do you want to do something now?" He asked.

"Sure, let me just do one thing real quick." I smiled.

"Okay!" He seemed happy and ran back to the kitchen.

After Dagger ran off, I walked up to my room and locked the door, placing the box on my desk. I sat down and unlatched the lock again, slowly opening it. After seeing in the crack to see nothing dangerous, I opened it fully and grabbed a small orb looking thing along with a note. Placing the orb down for a moment, I looked at the note and began reading.

"This is one request, then I won't bother you anymore. I need help, go to forest of life. Find a tree with a red string wrapped around it. Dig around the tree. You will find something there. Do this for me, and I'll never bother you again. I failed this, maybe you can succeed. I will meet you in the same place in a week of giving you the box."

Placing the note down, I noticed a more tinier note.

"That orb can help you locate what I need you to find. It glows brighter the closer you are..."

Upon reading that, I placed both notes into the box and grabbed the orb.

"So he wants me to find something, huh…?" I scoffed a bit.

I shook my head and sighed.

"I know I shouldn't thrust him at all, but I will just this once… Just because he said he'd leave me alone. And if he lies, he will regret it..." I said to myself.

Getting up from my chair, I took the orb and placed it on my nightstand. I then placed the box in the closet where Dagger wouldn't find it. I believe I need to memorize that wing symbol for whatever reason. Honestly, if there wasn't a symbol, I'd throw it away without another thought.

But with all that done, I walked back downstairs and saw Dagger preparing are food. He turned to me after entering the room and smiled.

"Done? Just in time, food's ready!" He placed the plates down.

"Thanks..." I told him.

"Yep. You hadn't ate all day from what I've seen, you must be starving." He replied.

"That is true." I replied, sitting down.

We ate and finished half an hour later. And after cleaning, Dagger looked at me.

"Well, wanna do something now?" He asked.

I nodded and he expressed joy as we did stuff throughout the night...


	6. An Odd Happening

The next morning I awoke in a daze.

Sitting up, I shook my head and groaned a bit.

"Ugh… Feels like I was hit in the head with a rock or something..." I groaned out and got out of bed.

I sluggishly walked out of my room and downstairs, yawning and noticing Dagger sitting on the couch playing on the game console. I walked pass him and greeted him. He greeted back with a smile and kept playing.

"Hey, I already made you some food. Was about to come up to tell you." He said.

"Thanks..." I smiled softly.

Walking to the kitchen, I grabbed the plate Dagger left for me that was still hot and I sat at the table and ate. Finishing my food, I walked up to Dagger and sat on the couch with him. Yawning again and looking at him, I asked what he was playing. He just said he was playing a game, not really answering my question.

He then looked at me and paused the game.

"So… How about we do something?" He asked.

"Sure. I have some work today though… I'm free around three if you're still up to it." I told him.

"Not busy around three, so yeah!" He smiled.

Pulling out my phone, I scrolled through it.

"Yeah, got work from eight to three. Should get ready..." I said.

"Sounds good. Hopefully you don't have anything else to do. Really want to hang out." He told me.

"Don't worry. Got no other plans." I reassured him.

Dagger sighed in relief and told me he wanted to go somewhere. Nodding, I told him I'll be back around three. He nodded and resumed playing as I got up and got ready for my job.

Upon getting ready, I grabbed my bag and told Dagger I was off. He acknowledged as I walked out of the house and down the road. For some reason though, I was focused on what Luk wanted me to find. It was so odd. Gone for a year then mysteriously appeared again, asking for my help. Really shouldn't accept, but he did say he'll leave me alone if I do. The note though, that's what confused me. It was really bothering me and I can't wrap my finger around it. What was the thing he wanted me to get. I have no clue.

I know I told Dagger that I'd be back around three, but that box had me very curious. So that's why I am going to take a detour on my way home to the location Luk wanted me to go.

So skipping work time, I left my job and began walking down the road.

Stopping by a utility store, I bought a shovel.

"Never really owned one of these..." I thought to myself.

It was one of those folding ones, so I just stuffed it in my bag and started making it to the forest of life.

On my way to the location, I happened to run into Ivy and Icy who were staring at some stuff. I walked up to them and greeted them. They looked back and waved at me.

"Hey!" Ivy exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, hey! What are you doing out here?" Icy asked.

"Eh, just heading to the forest of life to sight see. What are you two doing?" I asked back.

"Oh, we're just documenting all these different types of flowers and plant life we hadn't seen before. This region has so many new things we have yet to discover." He said.

"Huh, sounds pretty cool. Well, I kinda don't have time to talk. See you later then?" I told them.

"Wait. Mind if we join? I've been planning on going to that forest today. We could all go together." He said.

Thinking about it, I didn't really want to drag them into anything dangerous if this note was lying to me and it was like a bomb waiting there, I didn't want them to get hurt. But the other side told me to let them come along. It could be a nice time to get to know each other better, since we haven't really been able to talk. And after another few seconds of deciding, I decided to go with taking them along.

"Sure, why not?" I spoke.

They seemed excited and joined me..

"Okay! Lets get going then, shall we?" Ivy exclaimed, eager to go.

Nodding, I lead the way to the forest.

We discussed about what we were doing in life. Of course the two already kinda knew my life. Rewinding back a year when I saved Dagger's life, for some reason I gained all this attention for no reason. Saying stuff like how I was the first Pokemon to ever complete all trails and stuff. So either Luk was lying about becoming the legendary of the region, or he kept it hidden.

But before I knew it, I was everywhere. It was really odd at first, but it kinda grew on me. I was never the one for attention, like, this much attention. So it was difficult adapting to it at first. Then time went by and I just accepted being noticed. Really didn't see what the big deal was, they weren't majorly hard either. Oh well.

Anyways, going back to us talking, we arrived at the place and I looked around for the tree.

"Wow, this place looks so cool!" Ivy exclaimed, running around to look at the plant life.

"Heh, Ivy… Always losing his mind when something 'cool' happens." Icy sighed and smiled while shaking her head, walking to him.

I let out a small laugh, remembering how I used to love seeing the world when I was young.

But wanting to get back on track, I started looking around for that tree with a red string. As I was searching, I was startled by the ringing of my phone. I jumped softly and took my phone out and looked at it.

"Dagger. Crap..." I thought.

I accepted the call though.

"Hey, Dagger…!" I sounded cheerful.

"Hey, Gold. I just wanted to see if you were on your way home." He said.

"Oh, yeah. Got a little caught up in something. But I will be back very soon." I told him.

"That's good. Really can't wait till you get home!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, just give me a bit more time then we can do whatever you want all day." I told him again.

"Okay! Well, see you soon!" He said, ending the call.

Placing my phone back in my pocket, I sighed and told myself that I should hurry and began looking tree to tree for that red string. And five minutes of looking at every single tree carefully, I finally saw the tree with the thin red string around it, waving in the air lightly.

I rushed over to it and pulled out my shovel and extended it. I then began digging around the tree before I heard a metallic sound of the shovel hitting something. I cleared the dirt and there was the box. A bluish box laying there.

Reaching into the hole, I pulled it out.

"Treasure?!" Ivy's voice suddenly sounded behind me.

"U- um, yeah. I think..." I said.

Ivy lowered himself and looked at the box.

"We should open it!" He exclaimed.

"Uh..." I didn't really reply.

"Oh come on! Lets see whats in it!" He told me.

I sighed and opened the box. What laid in the box was a small little medallion.

"A medallion…?" I looked confused.

Ivy quickly took it.

"This looks really cool! So shiny." He said.

I took it back and stared at it. There was a note in the box and I looked at it. It simply said wear it. Looking more confused, I shrugged and put it around my neck. What happened next was unclear to me. The medallion glowed and soon my vision went black.

Not long later, I regained my vision to see myself at the same place. But something was different. It was night, a new moon. It was suppose to be a full moon tonight.

Looking around, I noticed Ivy and Icy asleep next to me, the same place they stood when they saw me take the box and wear the medallion.

I shook them and they awoke, looking confused.

"W- what happened?" Icy questioned.

"I, uh… Have no idea." I said.

I slowly got up, a breeze tingled my body. They got up as well and.

"Um… W- when did we f- fall asleep?" Ivy said.

"Uh… I honestly don't know." I replied.

I looked around some more and noticed everything was the same other then the time of day. Nothing looked out of place. I kept looking around and saw nothing other then us three. This was weird. I had no idea what happened after I put on the medallion. Everything just went blank.

"Um, follow me. We should get back to my place…" I said.

"Sure… Not walking home in this. Way too dark." Ivy said.

We began walking when Icy spoke.

"Guys…? This feels weird to me. Like a suspense…" She said.

"Yeah, I kinda feel it too." Ivy joined.

Thinking about that, I also felt it. But I just pushed on.

When we reached my place, I walked in. The door wasn't locked or anything. I looked around and called for Dagger, but no response. I looked around and in the room. He wasn't asleep or anywhere in the house. It was completely empty.

"Uh..." I started getting nervous.

"T- the door was unlocked..." I started getting more nervous, feeling like someone broke in.

I looked outside into the darkness. Not seeing anything, I quietly shut the door and locked it.

"Okay, uh… This is weird. Lets just get some rest… For some reason I have this odd feeling though..." I said.

They agreed and we went to my bedroom. We then laid down and got some rest...


	7. Getting Answers

Waking up a few hours later, I got up and looked around.

"D- Dagger…?" I spoke out.

Silent was followed after I spoke that.

Sitting up and shaking my head from sleepiness, I looked and noticed Ivy and Icy who were still asleep. Tilting my head, I looked around some more and got up slowly. Stretching and letting out a small groan, I walked to the window and looked out.

My eyes widen when I noticed the sky was pitch black with a bright moon. No stars or any small detail. Only the moon with a void for a sky.

"W- what the hell…?" I said with a shaky voice.

Turning around quickly, I went to Ivy and Icy and shook them. They woke up and looked at me, asking me what's wrong. I explained that something very weird was going on. The two got up after I explained the odd sky. When they saw what I saw, they looked concerned and turned back to me. Ivy asked me what will we do. Shaking my head and explaining I had no clue, we walked downstairs and I walked outside.

When I left the house, I was hit by a bone chilling wind that instantly made me shiver intensely.

"W- why is i- it so cold suddenly?" I spoke out.

Walking back in, I kept shivering and looked at the two. As I looked at them, Ivy titled his head and pointed at the medallion around my neck.

"My head is still hurting… But I think whatever happened is related to that necklace." He said.

"T- this medallion?" I tried thinking.

"O- oh, right… Y- you may b- be right." I held the medallion in my paw.

"Take it off. See what happens." Icy suddenly spoke.

Looking up, I nodded and slowly took it off. The medallion's glow faded as my head burst into pain as my vision went black once more.

Not ten seconds later, I regained vision like before and noticed I was laying in front of the tree where I dug the box up. Groaning and slowly lifting myself, I saw the two slowly waking up as well. My vision was blurry but it was day.

I took a few minutes to myself to feel slightly better as my head was burning. When the burning sensation died down, I slowly got to my feet and panted softly. I helped the two up as they struggled to stand straight without stumbling.

"W- what happened…?" Ivy groaned.

"I… Don't know." I said.

A sudden ring coming from my phone made me jump as I swiftly pulled my phone out and noticed it was Dagger. I quickly accepted the call.

"D- Dagger?" I spoke.

"Oh, hey. Just been wondering if you'll be home shortly… It's been four hours since you said you'll be home." Dagger sounded a little sad.

"Oh, I am really sorry… Something… Happened. I'm coming home right now." I said.

"Hope so. See you shortly." Dagger said before hanging up.

I instantly sighed upon the call ending. Closing my eyes, I stood there for a moment before opening my eyes and looking at the two.

They still looked a bit dazed when I asked if they wanted to come with me. They agreed and I began walking back home. The two followed and we discussed what the hell happened when I put that necklace on. I was just so confused and none of us had any idea. I looked down at my paw to see the necklace.

"Luk must know what the hell this thing is. I need to get an answer for what happened when I put this on." I thought to myself.

Placing the necklace in my pocket, I continued to walk and arrived home shortly after.

"You two can come in if you want." I told them.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Ivy said.

I then opened the door and walked in as the two followed. When I entered, Dagger instantly ran down the stairs and smiled.

"You actually did come back…!" He said.

"I told you I would. Sorry about the last call… Just got into some… Stuff..." I said.

"Well, I'm glad you're here now." Dagger said.

I nodded as he walked to the living room. The three of us looked at each other and soon slowly walked into the living room as well. Ivy walked next to me and whispered.

"What are we going to do?" He asked.

"I don't know. I think I know someone who can explain this." I told him.

"Okay, hope whoever that is can tell you what that necklace is." He said before walking to the couch with Icy.

After he walked off, I walked upstairs and landed on my bed. Looking at the necklace, it really confused me. No idea how it worked or what happened when I put it on. It just didn't seem natural of course. No idea what that place we were in. Pitch black sky. That is really not normal.

I could think all day of what it did. But I'd rather just see what Luk had to say about it.

And after getting up and holding the necklace tightly, I walked downstairs and outside. After telling Dagger I would be right back of course. And for his safety to not get involved, I said I was going to get some stuff before night comes. He bought it as I walked out and closed the door.

Upon leaving the house and walking down the path, I made my way to where Luk's place was. When I did reach there, I looked around, calling out for him.

Calling out his name for a bit, I sighed and sat down. When I was thinking about what to do with the necklace, I suddenly heard a thud behind me, causing me to jump a bit. When I looked back, I saw Luk who looked a bit annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I found this necklace..." I told him, getting up.

"Oh, alright. I didn't want to see you for a bit longer." He told me.

"Too bad… I need answers." I said.

"And what are the questions?" He asked.

"Firstly. What the hell happened when I put it on?" I looked at him.

"Ugh, so you put it on. Well… You enter a different dimension in a way." He said.

"What?" I tilted my head.

"Yes, you transport to a different dimension." He told me.

"Alright… I guess from what I saw, that explains a bit. But how the hell does it do it?" I said.

"Who knows." He shrugged.

"Seriously? Isn't this yours or something?" I asked.

"Not really. It is owned by me. I found it one day. Enough questions however… Since you experienced what happens when you put it on… Time to tell you what to do." He said.

"This better not be a big ass adventure. I just want to live a normal life." I said.

"The duration is only determined by what you do in that place. Now listen… Anyone within five feet of you when you put on the necklace will be transported with you. Maybe bring some if you get lonely easily. Anyways, go into that place and find something for me." He said.

"Find another thing…? Seriously…? Fine, what is it?" I said.

"It's an item that looks like a gemstone. It glows red and blue. It's something I must need. Something I lost." He said.

"Okay? Any clues?" I asked.

"Nope. But it does emit some kind of beacon that could help you..." He said.

"Alright. But I swear, this is the last thing I'm ever doing for you." I said.

"Fine by me. Won't hear from me once you retrieve my item." He said, shrugging.

"Good… I'll get your thing and I am out." I said, turning around.

He remained silent and soon jumped back into the trees as I walked down the path and back home. When I was walking home, I looked at the necklace and scoffed. Thinking about this 'gemstone' he wants seems difficult. It could be anywhere within the region. Yet, he did say it glows like a beacon so I guess it will be much easier. But thinking more about when I was in that place, I saw no beacon of light. That makes me worried again since I should've asked how much light it produced. But honestly, I do not want to see him again till I get his stupid gem.

I ended up stopping at the store and grabbing some stuff just so I wouldn't come home empty pawed. When I paid for the food, I walked back home and arrived ten minutes later.

Upon entering, I placed the bags of food on the table and sighed, stretching softly. Walking in the living room to see Ivy and Icy just watching a movie, I sat down next to them. They didn't speak and I didn't start any conversation. I planned on telling them tomorrow in the morning. As of right now, I was too tired to even bother.

When that night came, I walked into my room. Before entering it however, Ivy grabbed my paw and I looked at him.

"Hey, so where did you go earlier?" He asked.

"Went to get answers… Seems like we need to get something there. I'll explain everything in the morning… Too tired to really think." I said.

"Oh, okay. Me and Icy will be asleep in the room. See you in the morning. Night." I said.

"Night." I said, walking in my room.

When I entered my room, I fell on my bed, seeing Dagger already asleep on his bed. Smiling softly, I covered up and closed my eyes...


	8. An Odd Mystery

The next morning, I was sitting outside on the porch, holding the necklace in my paw. I was silent as I thought about what to do. I honestly had no clue actually. For all I know, this could be some kind of trap to silently kill me or something.

Even though I didn't want to go, I kinda wanted too and see if this thing he wanted was real. If it was, I would get it, give it to him, and never hear from him again. I would honestly prefer that then have him knocking on my door if I didn't do it.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Just do this… And we can finally live happily." I told myself.

"With our help, we'll get it." Ivy's voice spoke which made me jump a bit.

"Oh… Thought I was alone. Are you sure you want to help? We don't really know what's in there and it could be deadly." I told him.

"Eh, it's fine. We want to help so don't worry about us." He said, sitting down next to me.

"Thanks. I just don't really know where to look. I guess it is useful that it shines like a beacon." I said.

"Yeah, we'll find it in no time. Just gotta rush it." He said.

Nodding, I looked at the necklace and groaned softly.

"I don't want Dagger to get all worried and stuff. He has been through enough and deserves a normal life without this." I said.

"The sooner you get it, the sooner you can be worry free." He said.

"I hope. Anyways, you should get Icy. I'll meet you in my room." I said.

"Sounds good. See you in a moment." He told me, getting up and walking inside.

I followed behind a second later and walked up the stairs. Dagger was away for the day so it was a good time to do this. So I walked into my room and opened it. When the other two came in, I closed and locked the door behind them. I looked at them as they looked ready.

Looking at the necklace, I closed my eyes and put it around my neck as everything went black, soon reappearing in the strange world. Upon entering, I sighed.

"Here we go again..." I said.

They nodded as we walked out of my room and walked outside. I looked around to see if I saw any sort of light. After looking for a bit, I noticed a small glint in the distance. This made me look surprise as I thought he was lying. Maybe it was still just something random that isn't what I wanted. But it was the only lead I had.

I told the others and they agreed to go there. With nothing more to do, I decided to head over there. I did hesitate for a moment. It didn't look like a beacon light. More of a sunbeam.

But it was still the only thing I had to go on and walked down the path. Our footsteps lightly crunching the gravel beneath us. The setting was just so unsettling. When I felt unsettled, it always make me feel like someone is watching me. Something just out of my view. It honestly creep me out as I continued to walk down the path.

"So… I hope it's just a grab and go thing." Ivy broke the silence.

"I do too. I'm not really sure if we're going in the right direction." I expressed my concern.

"It's the only thing we had to go on. Lets just see what this beam of light is." Ivy said.

I sighed and nodded.

Ivy reassured me that we'll find it quickly and I just nodded slowly, not replying. Ivy looked down and quietly walked. I felt a little sad for some reason seeing Ivy a bit down. I guess my silence caused him to feel like he wasn't helping.

I just put a paw on his shoulder and told him to be careful.

"Careful of what?" He asked.

"I… Don't really know. I just have a strange feeling of all of this." I told him my concern.

"Um, sure. I'm sure there isn't really anything dangerous in here. I think… There seems to be no life in here." He said.

"I just have a feeling. Keep your guard up." I said.

Ivy nodded and kept walking. We walked for a bit more before reaching a little park. The light faded upon reaching the park and I titled my head. It made me a little confused but I thought the item was here due to the light being extremely close when we arrived at the park.

I looked at them and told them to search around. They both nodded as we started looking around. I ended up searching around the outer area of the park, trying to find anything that could be used to hide something. I looked under rocks, in logs and even dug the gravel and sand that covered the park.

Wasn't a big fan of treasure hunting, but I had no choice as I continued to dig around. After I dug around for a while, I stopped and sighed.

"Jeez… Nearly dug up the entire park's zone…" I spoke.

I slowly got up and the moment I said that, I heard Ivy call over.

"Over here!" He said.

I perked up and went over to him. When I made my way to him, he pulled out a compass covered in dirt. Tilting my head, I looked at him.

"A compass…? I don't think that's what we're looking for." I told him.

"Err… I am not really sure. It could be useful." He said.

"And how?" I said.

"Well, the compass isn't pointing the correct way. It's pointing west. Might wanna try and follow it." I said.

"Probably. I have no idea. But this is the only lead we have." I said.

Ivy nodded and smiled, getting up. He then talked to Icy and when they were done, they walked up to me. I took the compass and looked at it. It was pointing west. It was pretty odd. There had to be a strange force causing the compass needle to point west. I took a step and started to walk.

I walked quite a distance before the compass spun rapidly.

"Err… Not sure if that's how a compass works..." I said.

"Maybe we're at the right spot?" Ivy said.

"Maybe." I said and looked around.

The area we were in was dense. I was confused since I didn't really see any areas that looked off like a building, shack or any landmark. Thinking for a minute, I looked down and tilted my head. The soil was wet or something. Damp mostly. I lowered down and started digging a hole around the damp soil. Ivy helped me while Icy stood back, complaining she liked being cleaned. I rolled my eyes and told her to just look around. She did so instantly as I sighed and looked at Ivy. He just shrugged and kept digging with me.

We dug a medium size hole about five feet deep. It was tiring as Ivy shared my fatigue. But as we were about to take a break, I dug my fingers into something metal. I panted and looked at it, confused. I then proceeded to clear the remaining damp dirt around it and soon it revealed a metal box.

"H- huh…?" I still panted.

I tried pulling it out but it wouldn't budge. I sighed and told Ivy to help me dig it out slightly to weaken the foundation. He nodded and helped me for a few more seconds. After I felt it weaken enough, I grabbed the sides of the box and pulled it hard. It still wouldn't budge, but as I kept pulling hard, nearly losing grip about ten times, I finally felt it pull out slightly.

Telling Ivy to help, he grabbed the other side as we started to pull it side to side. Doing this caused the dirt around it to finally collapse as the box was pulled up easily and soon we had it out of the dirt. We laid it on the ground, panting heavily. The box had to weigh about 40 pounds or something.

"W- well then… W- what is t- this?" Ivy panted heavily, clearing sweat from his face.

"I h- have no idea. But it's m- making the compass go crazy..." I replied.

Looking at the compass, I put it against the box and it indeed caused the needle to spin at a rapid speed.

"It's definitely tracking this box." I commented.

"Is it some type of chest? Buried treasure? I don't see a lock or hatch or anything..." Ivy sighed.

I scanned over the box and it was just a metal cube.

"You're right. Such an odd block." I said.

"Should we… Take it with us?" Ivy asked.

"Not really sure. Maybe it can help us down the road. Not sure how though." I said.

"We'll see when the time comes I guess." He told me, picking up the cube.

"So… We should continue, right?" Icy walked up.

"That's probably best. Follow me." I told them.

We then walked down the dark path and into the darkness...


	9. Item Hunting

We walked down the dark path. My eyes scanned the trees to see if there was some kind of landmark nearby. I was unsuccessful as I only saw dense forest everywhere. I sighed and looked at Icy and Ivy as they walked down the path. I had no idea where we were heading honestly and I just wanted to get back to Dagger.

But I pushed on so I can find this item and get this Pokemon out of my life so I can finally live peacefully. I still have no idea why he's suddenly coming back now. We seriously only been together for a day before leaving him. We didn't get close or anything and he's asking for my help.

It just really annoys me. I just wish I was home sleeping right now. But instead, I am traveling this weird empty realm.

I walked up to Ivy and sighed.

"Hmm?" He looked at me.

"Nothing… Just no idea why we're here." I said.

"To get this item?" He said.

"I know that, but still… I rather just be home enjoying doing stuff with Dagger." I said.

"Eh, I rather not be traveling weird places like this, but I do like adventures." He said.

"Maybe you, but for me it's kinda annoying." I said.

Ivy nodded and looked up. While we walked down the path, I looked at the box and rolled my eyes. This little box has to be important due to this compass or whatever. Pretty sure if it wasn't it wouldn't have spun like that, so till we know what it does, I'm keeping it with me. I placed it in my bag and saw the two looking at a beam of light.

"Is that our destination?" I asked.

"I think. No idea." Icy said.

"Yeah, looks pretty though..." Ivy said.

"Lets just try and get there then… Hopefully it's whatever he wants. What was it again?" I said.

"I honestly don't remember. But I am sure we'll remember what it is when we reach it." Ivy said.

"I guess..." I looked down and kept walking.

Icy and Ivy chatted and soon began running. I looked up and looked confused as they told me to follow. I titled my head and ran after them. We ran down the dark path for whatever reason but it was soon made clear they just wanted to race. I softly rolled my eyes and just went along with their race.

I stayed behind and didn't try to win. I just wanted to be in last to make sure nothing dangerous was around as I spent more time scanning the woods then actually focusing on the race.

We kept running through the forest as I continued looking. Ten minutes of nonstop running, we finally made it to a park. Ivy won as Icy tackled him as they played around.

"Um..." I looked at them.

I guess they just wanted to have fun, so I decided not to ruin their fun. I just shrugged and began looking around. This park was large and the beam of light seemed to have been coming from the park's lake. Looking at the two, I just walked down the path to the lake and looked at the oddly clear water.

"Thought this place would have disgusting black water since everything else looks black..." I spoke to myself.

Looking closer at the water, I noticed nothing wrong with the water and gently put my foot in. The water was warm as I began walking into it. I walked to the light that quickly faded as I got closer and soon I was around the middle of the lake.

"Hmm..." I looked around.

"Maybe in the middle…?" I thought.

The lake's floor was made out of dirt and not those newly park lakes with stone or marble. I pulled my shovel out and looked around.

"Okay… Possibly here?" I titled my head and thrust the shovel into the dirt.

The dirt easily crumbled due to the wetness as I started digging the around middle.

I dug for five minutes before finding nothing. I sighed and started thinking where else I could dig around this lake. I didn't want to spend hours digging the entire lake's floor and I wanted to try and find where it's buried as fast as possible.

With my shovel in paw, I kept digging around areas I thought it was. Ten holes later, I groaned and hit the water with the shovel in annoyance.

"Damn it..." I groaned softly.

"Hey, Gold! What are you doing in there?" Ivy suddenly spoke.

My head jolted up to see Ivy and Icy on land looking at me. I explained I saw the lake coming from here. The two nodded and told me to come to them as they found something. Nodding, I started walking through the water.

Before getting to land, I suddenly felt something wrap around my leg.

"W- what?" I looked down.

"Whoa, what's going on…?!" Ivy shouted.

I looked at him and noticed the water turning red. My eyes widen as I tried getting out of the water but the grip around my leg was strong and kept pulling me back. I called out to them of what is going on and the two just watched in surprise.

"Should we help?!" Icy shouted.

"N- no…! I'll… Be fine." I said.

The two looked hesitant and was locked in place, just watching helplessly as I continued struggling to break the grip around my leg.

As I was trying to break the grasp, I suddenly felt another strong grip around my other leg. Before I was able to react, I was violently jerked down as I was pulled into the dirt. I let out a surprised gasp as my head was the only thing visible above the red lake.

"Dude…?!" Ivy called out.

Looking at them, it was the last thing I saw as I was dragged underwater. I held my breath and tried getting up, thrashing around as the warmness of the water consumed my body. I closed my eyes and continued trying to break free, losing air.

After ten seconds, I slowly stopped and felt myself lose consciousness.

Upon losing consciousness, I remember opening my eyes. Jolting up, I noticed myself on a stone slab.

"W- what…?" I looked around, dazed.

I scanned the room for anything but there was nothing. It looked like a cave that I was in, alone and cold. I slowly got to my feet and nearly fell, feeling dazed. Holding my head, I groaned softly.

"D- damn… My head..." I groaned.

Stepping forward slowly, I nearly fell with each step. It took a bit for me to regain balance as I held my stomach in pain. Looking around, I shivered and walked on the cold stone floor. As I kept walking, I suddenly heard something.

"H- hello…?" I softly spoke.

"Down here..." The voice faintly said.

"Huh…?" I looked around.

I looked at an opening that the voice came from. Tilting my head, I slowly walked down and soon reached a dead end. The dead end had someone near me. The figure was wearing all black as I slowly stepped forward to it.

"Uh, hello…?" I said.

The figure didn't move as I slowly walked towards it more.

"Um, you alright…?" I said.

Getting about five feet away from the figure, it slowly lifted it's head as it stared at the stone wall. I took a step back as the figure got up and slowly turned towards me. I got prepared to run but as the figure fully turned around, I froze as my composure shattered. The one who stood in front of me was my mother. I felt my eyes tear up as I stepped back.

"N- no… Y- you…" I stumbled.

My 'mother' opened her eyes and looked at me, smiling softly. I was frozen in shock as I stared at her. She stared back as I slowly stepped forward. I found myself whimpering softly as I got closer to her and soon tried hugging her. My hug fazed right through her as I fell to my knees.

"T- this isn't real..." I spoke softly.

As I stayed on my knees, I felt something touch my head. I instantly looked up to see my mother's paw on my head as it felt just like it did before that tragic day. My paw slowly reached and touched hers, not fazing through this time as I started to cry, feeling her hugging me soon after and rubbing my head.

"T- this… Isn't… R- real..." I cried.

I closed my eyes, feeling her embrace me as I continued crying. Her soft rubbing of my head reminded me when she did so when I was scared or sad. As she continued rubbing my head, I suddenly heard her voice as my eyes opened lightly.

"It's okay..." She said.

"I know it's hard… But you have to keep going on for us..." She added.

Tears fell from my face as I shook my head harshly.

"I… I can't… I miss y- you so much..." I cried.

"Don't be sad my little Buizel… I'm always here for you..." She said.

Tears continued falling on the stone floor as I closed my eyes.

"I need to go now…" She said and slowly got up.

I remained on my knees as I kept crying, feeling faint and soon blacking out.

After a bit all I remember was opening my eyes and staring at the sky. Ivy and Icy was over me, shaking me. My eyes were glossed as they described as they ran into the lake and got me. They explained after I went under, I soon floated back to the surface about 30 seconds later. This made them run in the lake and pulled me out of it. They then went on to tell me I was out for a good half hour or so and they started thinking I died. Luckily I hadn't they both said.

Slowly sitting up and looking at them, I looked confused.

"Y- you two got me…?" I asked.

"Yeah. The water returned to normal after you went under and soon you resurfaced." Ivy said.

"T- thanks..." I said, hugging my legs.

"Dude, you alright?" Ivy said.

I stayed silent and just sat there, thinking about what just happened. I didn't know if that was a dream or what. It felt so real and it disturbed me. I couldn't help myself as tears started falling.

"Um, you alright?" Ivy asked.

Still staying silent, the two looked at each other with concern before Ivy grabbed me. The two helped me up and walked me to a bench, sitting me down as they sat next to me. Ivy looked at me and gently rubbed my back, still concerned and tried speaking to me. After five minutes of the two trying to talk to me, I slowly looked at them and told them I was alright.

"Are you sure? You kinda blanked out if so." Ivy said.

"Yeah… I'm okay..." I softly spoke and got up.

The two looked at me and looked confused.

"Oh, okay… Um, what do you plan on doing next? We'll follow your lead." Icy said.

"I… Don't know. We still need to find where this light is. Maybe find that item." I said.

The two nodded.

"We should not enter that lake though. Lets just look around." Ivy said.

"That is actually a good idea. Lets go and look around." I said.

The two nodded and ran off to began searching as I slowly walked around. My head was lowered as I closed my eyes and sighed softly, looking around slowly. The two kept looking and soon started digging for a bit. I followed them and sat down, sighing and began digging with them.

We kept digging around the place and when we found nothing for a bit, we decided to take a break. I sat down and stayed silent as the two chatted...


	10. Return

I stayed silent on the bench I saw on while Ivy and Icy chatted. It didn't take long till they noticed my odd silent and looked at me.

"Dude, you alright?" Ivy asked.

I remained quiet as they looked concerned and walked up to me, sitting on both sides of me as Ivy rubbed my back.

"Do you wanna talk about it? I don't think you've been this quiet since we met." Ivy said.

"It's fine… Lets just find this thing..." I quietly spoke.

"Oh… Okay. Are you sure you don't wanna talk about it though?" He asked.

"No… It's fine..." I spoke quietly again.

"Okay." Ivy said, getting up and looking at Icy.

Icy looked down and slowly got up and went to Ivy. The two then walked off and began searching again while I remained on the bench just thinking about the whole encounter I just had. I didn't know what to think. It felt so real. It just felt so real. My eyes glazed the ground as visions flashed of the past encounters a year ago. I didn't understand why they were coming back down. I just didn't know why now of all other times they could've come. Ever since I saved Dagger, the memories or visions or whatever never came back. Until now. I sighed.

"Why..." I closed my eyes.

I lifted myself up from the bench and slowly reopened my eyes and looked at the two who searched.

"This… We should just go home… It's not worth it..." I said quietly.

"But if I don't know this… He'll come find me I bet… Do something to us possibly..." I continued.

Slowly walking up to the two, I sighed and looked at them.

"Guys… I am sure it isn't here. Lets just try and make our way home for now." I said.

"Already? Okay..." Ivy said, getting to his feet.

"This place is giving me a weird vibe." I said.

"Yeah, I've been feeling it too." Icy said.

I nodded and looked at the path we came from. I motioned them to follow as we walked down the path. Ivy and Icy followed close behind and just chatted about their own stuff while I simply walked without paying much attention. That all changed when I suddenly tripped and fell hard on the dirt path.

"O- ow..." I held my chest and looked back.

"You good?" Ivy said.

"Um, yeah… T- tripped on something." I said.

"Huh… What's this?" Icy said.

Tilting my head, I looked at Icy and noticed what I tripped on. It was a tripwire. This confused me as it wasn't there when we walked down.

"A tripwire? Um… That's… Odd. I didn't see that when we came down." I said.

"Same. Does that mean someone's… With us in here?" Ivy said, looking around nervously.

"I don't know. But I surely do not like it. We need to get back." I said.

The two nodded and helped me up.

"Why not just take off that medallion?" Icy said.

"Um, that's actually a good idea. Not sure why I didn't think of it." I said, taking it off.

When I took it off, nothing happened. I looked at the two, confused as the glow stayed bright.

"Um… Aren't we suppose to be returned?" Ivy said.

"That's what I discovered." I put it on and off again but nothing happened once more.

"This is bad..." Icy said.

I nodded and looked a little worried.

"M- maybe I need to take it off near the area I put it on in the real world?" I said.

"Worth a shot." Ivy said.

"Yeah… Sounds like it could work." Icy added.

Nodding, I put it on and walked back slowly, still on guard.

"This is a little spooky." Icy spoke.

"Yeah… Lets just try and get there." I said.

Icy nodded slowly and looked around, trying to detect anything off. The walk down that path felt dreadful for some reason. It honestly felt like someone was watching us and it was putting me in this odd state of mind. Ivy and Icy told me that they were feeling the same feeling I was and to be careful. I didn't need to be told that as I was already on full guard of our surroundings. Luckily however, nothing happened and we arrived back to the alternate house we claimed.

We walked in as I sighed, sitting down and looking up. Ivy sat next to me.

"So… What now?" He asked.

"I guess we'll just return to our world until I find a way to continue..." I said.

"Oh, alright. Mind if we stay with you for a bit? Kinda want to help you some more." He said.

"Sure, thanks..." I said.

"Of course. I'm here to help you. We both are." He said, smiling.

I smiled softly and nodded, looking at the medallion and took it off as everything faded to black. We soon opened our eyes near the house. We slowly sat up and looked around. It was night and raining slightly.

"Well, at least we know it works… Wherever we put it on, we must take it off near the area we put it on." Ivy said.

"Yeah. That's good to know." I said.

Ivy got up and helped Icy up as I sat there.

"And it's night and raining… I wonder how long we were in there." Icy said.

"Same. Not sure if the time flow normally like this world." I said.

"Yeah… Well, we should get inside." Ivy said.

Agreeing, I got up and we walked to the house. I unlocked the door and slowly walked in, peeking in and noticed it was pitch black inside.

"Okay… Guess Dagger is asleep." I told myself, walking in.

Ivy and Icy followed in as I gave them the couch. The two got on the couch and hugged each other.

"Well then. I guess you two can sleep there. I'll be in my room if you need anything." I said.

"Okay. Thanks for letting us stay now that it's raining and dark." Ivy said.

Nodding, I turned back and walked upstairs and into my room. When I got into the room, I noticed Dagger in his bed asleep. Looking down, I sighed softly and slowly walked in. I felt bad for not being with Dagger that often and it made me a little sad.

"Man… I'll try and get some more time with Dagger tomorrow..." I said.

I walked to the bed and slowly got in, covering up and sighing softly, closing my eyes and soon fell asleep.

The next morning, I was suddenly jolted up from my sleep as Dagger jumped on me. My eyes shot open as I looked around quickly. When I noticed Dagger, I calmed down and smiled softly.

"Um… H- hey." I said.

"Hey Gold! Where has you been?" Dagger asked.

"Well um… I've been kinda busy. I really have been feeling bad that I hadn't been spending time with you." I said.

"Oh… It's okay. It is kinda lonely, but if you are busy with work, it's okay." He said.

"Y- yeah, it's been quite busy at work and all." I said.

Dagger nodded and slowly got up and onto his feet. He looked at me and smiled softly.

"So, want to get some food?" He said.

I smiled and nodded as he seemed excited and walked out and downstairs, leaving me alone for a moment as I got up and stretched. I looked down and kept smiling before getting to my feet and taking a quick shower before going downstairs where Dagger was in the kitchen cooking some food. Dagger looked back and stared at me as he smiled.

"Hey, I noticed Ivy and Icy on the couch sleeping. I guess you let them stay?" He said.

"Yeah, it was raining and stuff last night so I decided to let them stay." I told him.

"Sweet. I kinda like them here." He said.

"I kinda do too. Well, I guess I'll get ready for breakfast. I'll wake the two up too when I'm at it." I said.

"Sounds good!" Dagger exclaimed happily and returned to cooking.

Chuckling softly, I turned back and went into the living room and soon shook the two awake. They awoke after a few seconds and looked around.

"Huh…? Morning already…?" Ivy said.

"Yep. Hurry and get up, breakfast it just about done." I said.

Ivy nodded as Icy rolled off him and got to her feet. Ivy got up after her and they sat at the table and waited as I checked the mail to reveal nothing important. When I was about to head back inside with the random mail, I noticed something on the door. It was an Articuno pin.

"Huh…?" I sounded confused and took it.

The pin was made out of some kind of metal. Most likely steel as it felt heavy but shiny.

"What's this doing here?" I told myself and looked around.

I saw no one nearby as I scanned the area, holding the pin in my paw. When I returned to looking at the pin, I didn't notice anything about it at first. Just a simple pin made out of iron or steel of some kind.

"Maybe just a gift from someone… Maybe Xcon." I told myself and forgot about it for now, walking back in with it and placing it on the table.

After placing the rest of the stuff on a nearby shelf, I walked to the kitchen and sat down as Dagger just finished the food and placed it on the table. I smiled and began eating as Dagger sat right next to me, eating as well as his tail wagged happily. We ate and when we finished, I got up and looked at Ivy and Icy.

"Mind if I speak with you two real quick?" I asked.

The two nodded and got up as I walked into the living room. Upon in the living room and the two right behind me, I turned to face them and sighed.

"So… I have no idea what our next plan is." I said.

"Same. I don't really know much about what happened before, but I'll help anyway I can." Ivy said.

"Thanks. Well… I kinda wanted to ask if I should involve Dagger in on this." I said.

"He's your friend. It's your choice." Ivy said.

"I know. I just don't know if it's the right decision or not." I said.

"Well, I am sure he'll start to wonder soon if you keep staying away from the house for entire days." Icy said.

"Yeah, I guess." I sighed.

"Hey, look, I know the three of us can do this. You can explain why you were gone for such long periods of time once we get this finished." Ivy said.

"Yeah… I guess that's the best option for now." I said.

"It'll be fine! Anyways, are we going in today or gonna take a little break?" Ivy asked.

"I planned on just relaxing for the day." I told him.

"Then lets just relax and do whatever we want!" Ivy smiled.

I nodded slowly and the two hugged me, saying they weren't gonna give up. I nodded and said I wouldn't either as they departed and smiled at me. Icy told me we should just do something with Dagger and I agreed. The two then ran into the kitchen as I followed. We then collected Dagger and we started to do some stuff for the day.

As I was going my own thing with the three, I tried forgetting about the whole issue I'm now in again. Lets just hope it's going to be less intense then our journey to collect the symbols or whatever they were back in that other region. I really do hope so since that was not a fun experience. Now that I think of it, I wonder where Eclipse and Shine went. Maybe they could help me if I found out how to contact them again...


	11. The Entity In The Woods

"Are you ready…?" I asked.

"Yep. We're ready. Lets get back into this." Ivy said.

"Okay, here we go." I told them, putting on the medallion.

Soon we transported back into the strange realm and began to get to work trying to find more clues to this mystery.

"Jeez, going in and out of this place really makes you lightheaded..." Ivy said.

"Yeah, which is why we need to find whatever this is and return to normal living..." I replied.

"Yeah, that's be nice. Lets get going quick." Ivy said, starting to search.

I looked around and sighed softly and noticed a glint in the distance. It was a small beam of light and I tilted my head.

"We went there and nothing was there. Only a lake that tried drowning me or something." I said and looked down.

"Something feels different about that area. I swear something is there but we didn't search hard enough. Do you think we missed something there? Should we go back and try searching again? Who knows… Maybe we can find something there if we try harder. When we got there, that beam of light wasn't reflecting off anything. Maybe… If we get on a hill or something from a distance, we can see where the beam of light is coming down on?" Icy spoke, walking up to me and looking at the light.

I perked up and looked at her.

"That… Actually isn't a bad idea. It seems like the light fades as we get closer so maybe if we get on a hill or something, we can see where it's shining down on…!" I said.

"Huh, didn't knew you could think like that." Ivy said to Icy.

"I kinda experienced this before. Like a rainbow. The closer you get, it fades away. So I am sure if we get on a faraway hill, we can see where it's location is truly." Ivy said.

"It's better then nothing." I said.

"Yep! So lets go and find a hill to look at the park from a distance!" Icy said and ran off to the light.

Ivy followed close behind as I followed him. We ran down the dirt path as I remembered going down this way before. I thought for a moment and suddenly looked up.

"Wait, stop…!" I called out.

Icy looked back, confused as she was suddenly tripped and got snared. She let out a surprised gasp as she zipped up to the tree upside down as she thrashed around. Both Ivy and I stopped, Ivy shocked at what just happened as I tried finding a way to cut her down.

"Crap, I figured this would've happened. I forgot even though it was just yesterday..." I said.

Looking around some more, I couldn't find an easy way to cut her down, not even a string that kept her suspended in midair. I scanned the floor and saw a sharp looking rock and picked it up.

"Um, okay… I'm going to climb up the tree and cut you down, just stay still." I said.

"Okay, just try and not fall." Icy said, sighing and just hanging there by her feet.

Watching her for a moment, I stepped to the tree and looked over it. It didn't look too easy to climb but I tried my best as I gripped the tree and started ascending, using the bark that stuck out to try and support my weight without it chipping away. I made it half way as Ivy looked nervous and kept a lookout around the area to make sure nothing came up on us. He pulled out an arrowhead that I guess was used for gathering wood shavings or something as he got into a defensive stance. While he was doing that, I managed to climb to a branch and sat on it. Holding the rock, I pulled on a cord that had Icy snared as I started rubbing the sharp end of the rock against it, trying to snap it in half. It did work after a minute. The rope snapped as Icy fell but with her quick agility, she managed to land on her feet with little to no injury.

"Jeez, that sucked..." Icy said, sighing and removing the remaining rope from her feet.

Climbing down, I looked at the two.

"Sorry… I knew something wasn't right. I forgot this path was the same we came down and I knew there could've been another trap." I said.

"Actually this trap wasn't here before." Ivy said.

"Huh?" I looked up, confused.

"This trap was seriously not here. I scanned the entire path yesterday and noticed nothing at all other then that tripwire." Ivy said.

Icy looked concerned and looked around quickly to try and spot anything lurking in the shadows.

"So… Someone is actually here with us. Uh… That's… Unsettling." I said.

"Yeah, it is. We should just try and reach the park before anything else happens. Just keep an eye on the path ahead to detect anymore traps." Ivy said.

"Good thinking. Lets get going, slowly." I said.

The two nodded and followed behind as I walked slowly down the path, scanning the floor for any traps laying around. The walk there wasn't that eventful. I didn't spot anymore traps on the floor and we arrived at the lake.

"Okay, we're here… Lets try and find a hill." Ivy said.

I nodded and looked at the landscape. It was a little difficult finding an area that was high enough, but I did spot an area in the distance.

"Ah, there we go. Lets head there…!" I said.

The two looked up and saw it and nodded as we walked there. Once we reached the area, I got to the top and looked around. I smiled softly and looked around and soon looked at the park. I squinted softly and looked closely at the park.

"Uh… Okay… Where is the light." I said.

I looked intensely and soon Ivy tapped me.

"There!" He said.

"Huh? Where?" I asked.

He pointed as I looked closely and noticed the light shining down. It wasn't actually at the park. It looked like it was somewhat in the forest but cleared enough to see where it was hitting the ground. I made a note in my mind with where the light was hitting and quickly slid down the hill. The two followed as we reached the park again as I ran to the spot I took note of.

When we reached the area, I walked to the spot I saw the light and noticed nothing there. I tilted my head and started digging the somewhat wet soil with my paws. Ivy and Icy joined as we dug a little bit down. We dug for ten full minutes before my fingers grind against a metal surface. I looked at the two and told them as we dug around the metal object to break it from the harden dirt. Once we managed to get a grip on it, we tried pulling it out. We tried our hardest but couldn't. I sighed softly and remembered Ivy's arrowhead. I told him if I could have it and he gave me it. I used the arrowhead and dug it between the dirt and metal. With it there, I started moving it left and right to try and loosen it up. After I felt it collapse a bit, I told the two to quickly pull it up. The two nodded and did so. After a few seconds, it pulled out from the hole. The two placed the object down which was covered in mud and dried dirt.

"Okay… Now to clean it off." I said, picking it up.

I walked back to the park's lake and tried washing it off the best I could. Once I did, I looked at the object. It looked like a metal chest with a latch.

"What's with these boxes?" I asked, unlatching the box.

Once I unlatched the box, I opened it and looked inside.

"Huh…?" I looked confused and took out a Sapphire.

I looked inside it and noticed all kinds of different gems.

"Diamonds, sapphire, rubies, even quartz. This is like a treasure find. Is this what Luk wanted?" I asked.

"Maybe? Should we try and find him?" Ivy said.

"I think… Hmm… Should we leave now?" I asked them.

"If you want. Should we see if something else is here?" Icy asked.

"Eh… I am sure there are other treasures, but I rather just get this over with and return to my normal life." I said.

"Okay then. Lets get going back home." Icy said.

I nodded and kept the box close as I walked back to our entrance point.

"So… Where is are next destination to meet up with this Luk?" Ivy said.

"I am not really sure. Some sort of lake I think." I said.

"Well, at least this will be over soon and maybe he'll just vanish after fulfilling his request." Ivy said.

"Yeah, I hope..." I replied and kept walking.

We continued to walk in silent before Icy broke the silent.

"Uh… I don't feel… Right..." She said.

I looked back and tilted my head.

"Huh?" I looked at her.

Icy suddenly fell as I looked surprised, running to her. Ivy followed quickly and we noticed she fainted somehow. We looked at each other and looked back at her before noticing a dart in her back.

"T- the hell?" Ivy said, pulling it out.

I looked up as I saw another dart swiftly hit Ivy in the chest as he fainted seconds later. I quickly jumped back and looked around swiftly to try and spot whoever was firing them. I failed to spot whoever was attacking before more darts fired towards me. I managed to dodge some before one hit my foot as I winced from the prickled feeling. I could only stand on one foot at this point and I couldn't move as quickly as before and soon I was hit by three darts over my body. I shivered and tried staying awake but failed as I dropped to the floor as my vision faded to black.

I don't know how much time passed before I awoke. When I did, I looked around and noticed I was in the forest. It didn't look like we were moved as I looked around to notice Ivy and Icy laying next to me along with the box.

"W- what was that..." I asked, dazed and confused.

I groaned and looked around some more and noticed it was extremely dark out as it rained.

"Night and rain… Perfect..." I said and grabbed the box.

Holding my stomach, I looked and noticed a little area protected from the rain. I slowly picked Ivy up and laid him under there along with Icy. I sat against the tree that protected us and rubbed my eyes. My eyes were misty as I still felt tired from just waking up.

"Who was that…? Who attacked us…?" I thought to myself.

My head laid on the tree as I watched the rain fall in the blacken sky. I still felt the tipped dart affects messing with my body as I struggled to keep my eyes opened. I tried my hardest to stay awake and I did for a bit. In that time, I tried looking around to see if anything was out of the normal. Nothing was different. Just trees, grass, rain and all that normal stuff. I tried standing up but failed and soon fell back. Groaning softly, I closed my eyes and shook my head very softly. I started falling into blackness as I couldn't keep awake anymore. Soon I did fall asleep next to them. As my hearing faded, I only heard the soft sound of rain hitting the dirt and leaves.

"S- so close..." I softly spoke.

I then passed out once again and laid next to Ivy and Icy. I tried my hardest but failed as I slept right there...


	12. The Mysterious Attacker

I awoke in a blur about an hour or so upon passing out. I remember opening my eyes to darkness as it still rained.

"U- ugh..." I let out a weak groan and tried getting to my feet.

After falling back down upon attempting to stand, I just sat there against the tree. My vision was blurry as I tried making out what was nearby. Nothing but distorted rocks and sticks.

"Ivy…?" I called out softly and looked.

My paws reached up and rubbed my eyes as the blurry affect faded slowly. Once I was able to see almost fully again, I noticed Ivy and Icy were not where I put them. I used most of my strength to get up and called out again to no response. I had no idea where they went and it somewhat frighten me as now I was alone in this empty realm of mystery.

"G- guys…?" I looked behind and around me.

"Where did they go…?" I told myself and picked up the metal box.

"They didn't take this if they wander off. Crap… I don't like this. What if whoever attacked came back and took them?" I thought to myself.

I held the box close and scanned the nearby area. There were nothing nearby and I had no idea what to do. I thought about heading to our exit point but before I could, I heard something in the distance. It was faint and I couldn't make it out. I tried detecting which direction it was and when I did, I slowly walked to it.

This voice or something appeared to be soft but I could hear it clearly through the rain. Not knowing why, I started thinking if it was dangerous. Maybe it was something wanting to lure me in. These thoughts unsettled me but I didn't have anywhere else to go and had no lead on my next target. Yeah, my next objective is to get out of there, but I can't leave without finding Ivy and Icy. Thinking this, maybe this voice leading me to it was where the two are. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

When I reached the location of the noise, I saw it was a small campsite.

"Campsite…?" I tilted my head and walked towards it.

The camp had a tent and just a basic fire pit that still had embers flying off of it. The fire looked to have been put out not more then half an hour ago.

"Uh… Hello?" I called out and walked to the tent.

Reaching out, I unzipped the tent and pulled the flap to the side. Looking in, there was nothing other then a sleeping bag which had nothing in it as it was completely flat.

"Err…" I backed up.

"This is so strange." I told myself and sighed.

I slowly sat at the fire and stared at it. The camp looked abandoned as there were no supplies here.

"Where are those two..." I thought.

I looked up to the sky and suddenly felt like I was falling. Letting out a gasp of surprise, I have indeed fell on my back out of nowhere. As I sat up, I looked very confused as to how I could've fell, but as I stood up I heard a voice behind which caused me to spin in an 180. The moment I made eye contact I felt a jolting shock throughout my body which caused me to fall as I tried holding in a scream. The shock was so intense but faded as fast as it came and I felt a wave of cold water cover me.

"W- what the…?!" I shivered and panted.

"You should be more careful..." A voice spoke.

"H- huh…? What…?" I replied.

"Shouldn't do such a reckless move." The voice continued.

Confused, I looked around and noticed I was in a lake. I was even more confused as there were no lakes nearby and this looked to be in the middle of the forest. Even though I was confused at how I ended up in a lake, I wanted to see who that voice came from. So I looked around to where the voice came from and the moment I saw who it was, my eyes widen. I came eye to eye with my father who sat at in a chair near the lake.

"W- what?" I shivered.

"How about you get out of there. I am sure dinner will be done soon." He said.

"U- uh… O- okay." I spoke softly and got out.

"Heh, jumping from a tree and doing a belly flop? Not the smartest choice." He chuckled softly.

Those words struck me hard out of nowhere. Those were the words he told me when I was ten. I looked shocked and looked around.

"T- this place… I… Know this place..." I spoke.

This forest I was in was a place I used to love exploring when I was younger. The time when my parents were still alive and I remember this night. My father took me out just for me to have some fun before needing to go in for the night.

"Is this… My mind deciding to hurt me…?" I thought.

"Or is this… Something to do with this strange realm…? I managed to prevent having dreams about my parents until I arrived here… I- I… Can't..." I closed my eyes as I felt tears form.

I held my head softly and shivered, trying to get this memory to vanish.

"W- why… I just… C- can't..." I mumbled as tears soon fell.

I kept my eyes closed for a tiny bit before slowly opening them. When I did, I wasn't near the lake anymore and instead by the tree I have fallen asleep at. Feeling sad, I looked around to notice Ivy and Icy at the exact same spot I left them before passing out.

"A- another dream…?" I shivered.

Reaching out, I touched Ivy as he instantly awoke and jolted in surprise.

"H- huh, what…?!" He shot up and looked around.

"Relax, it's me..." I said.

"O- oh. Dang, my head… What happened?" He asked.

"I don't know… Someone attacked or something..." I replied.

Ivy quickly woke up Icy as they both got up quickly.

"Well I don't want to stand around here any longer. We need to go. Now." He said.

"Yeah, good idea..." I said, slowly getting up.

Ivy picked up the metal box which had been laying next to the tree as he began leading the way. I followed silently as Ivy followed next to me who was also pretty quiet, only replying to Ivy when he spoke. The walk was just so quiet and eerie. Due to this, it took what felt like much longer to arrive at our entry point. When we did however reach there, I was about to take the medallion off. It was at this point I discovered something that frighten me again. The medallion wasn't on my neck.

"W- what the?" I said, looking at the two.

"Why didn't you tell me the medallion is missing?" I said.

"Huh? We didn't see it was gone…!" Ivy said.

"Damn it…! I swear I felt it around my neck…!" I growled softly.

"Guess we didn't get off free..." Icy sighed and looked a little scared.

"We're possibly trapped here forever now. Great. Ugh…!" I kicked a nearby tree with force.

"Dude, calm down. I discovered something about the medallion. I'll tell you if you just calm down and let me speak..." Ivy said.

I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply and looked at him, telling him to continue.

"Okay… Better. Now, the medallion… I didn't speak of it since I didn't think it was important. Maybe it isn't important. But I wanted to say… The medallion radiates some sort of energy." Ivy said.

"Yeah, I felt it too but didn't think of it much. Didn't you feel it?" Icy said.

"No, I didn't. Maybe it just somehow 'radiates' energy near to others." I said.

"Huh… Well then. Anyways, the medallion radiates some kind of energy and glints from afar. Maybe we can pinpoint it." Ivy said.

"Ugh. That thing can be anywhere! Maybe whoever took it just left this realm." I growled more.

Ivy sighed and closed his eyes, soon looking back at me.

"Okay… Maybe search in the nearby city… Some sort of landmark. I don't know… Camps, makeshift areas… Anything. Maybe that will help us." Ivy said.

"Ivy thinks of this kind of stuff a lot… I don't know if it's worth it though." Icy sighed.

I sat down by a tree and groaned. I told them it might be hard to find them, but I'll try since I do not want to be stuck here. The two nodded as I slowly got up. Looking around, I sighed and stared at them.

"Alright. Time to get going I guess..." I told them.

"Yeah. I hope we can find it soon. Now that I think of it… Is there even any food or water in here?" Ivy asked.

"I have no idea. Maybe find a store or market of some kind… I hope they do because I'll be extremely mad as a spirit if I starve in this realm." I said.

They both nodded as they began walking as I followed behind. As we were walking, it felt kinda unsettling for whatever reason. Mostly because we were attacked and had my medallion stolen without me even knowing. I had no idea how I didn't knew that thing was missing until I tried removing it. It is very unsettling as I swore I felt it around my neck and then the next moment, just gone. This kept coming to mind, and that was how Ivy and Icy did not see I wasn't wearing it. The medallion glowed a bright blue when worn and they would've surely saw it glowing around my neck. I continued thinking this before finally asking them.

"Are you sure you two aren't just messing with me…?" I asked.

"Huh?" Ivy looked up.

"With the medallion thing. You two would've totally seen it around my neck if I still had it." I replied.

"Dude, I'm not kidding… I swear you had it on you when you awoke. Then whenever you went to take it off, it's like it just vanished from your neck." He said.

"Hmm…" I sighed.

"Alright, lets just try and find this stupid thing so we can return home..." I said and looked down.

"That is for the best. Don't worry, I know we'll find it quickly." Ivy told me.

"Yeah… I hope so." I replied.

Ivy nodded happily and told Icy to come on as they began running. I slowly looked up and ran after them as they made it to the nearest landmark, which was a town I couldn't recognize. They looked around and tilted their heads, also unsure what this town was called as it looked very abandon. Most things looked intact but it was just dead inside. Not a single sound or movement in sight.

"Uh, alright… Kinda creepy." Ivy said.

"Yeah, what is this place? I never seen this layout of a town before." Icy said.

"Err… I am pretty sure this isn't just a copy of the region we're in. This is possibly a region we never seen before. If it even has a real region other then this place..." I said.

"Pretty right on that. This place does not look like the region we're currently in. Hmm. Well, we should explore it. See what we can find." Ivy said.

I agreed as we stepped into the abandon and dark town. The only sound within was the light wind blowing pass us as we scanned the area for any form of life. We searched the entire town and came up with nothing. Nothing at all looked like someone has been here recently. I told the others and they agreed it was unsettling that it looked like this but they didn't want to give up and wanted to continue searching the area, saying that something of use could be there. I nodded as the three of us explored the area further.

We searched for a while before I noticed it was getting dark and told the others. They suggested we find a place to rest and started searching for a suitable place. It didn't take long until we found a pretty decent area in one of the buildings to rest. Once we managed to collect stuff to make a bed out of, we laid there and just stayed silent.

I closed my eyes slowly and just wondered how we'll find that medallion in such a big place. I just hope Ivy was right and that is emits some sort of energy or something of that kind. Sighing and closing my eyes, I just drifted off to sleep...


	13. The Pokemon In Black

I awoke slowly and stretched.

"Man..." I spoke and sat up, groaning.

"Hmm..." I looked around.

The room was the same as we left it as I saw Icy and Ivy just laying on their beds. The two were somewhat snuggling each other as I slowly got up and looked out a broken window. The streets were completely empty and nothing looked changed. I shook my head and continued looking out.

The entire place was dead silent and it was very eerie. I couldn't really think much about it as the silent was just too eerie for me.

"This place is so creepy..." I spoke to myself in a whisper.

I scanned the area below from the window and I suddenly stopped on something.

"Wait… What is that?" I told myself and looked closer.

What I was looking at seemed like a figure way down at street level. I wasn't sure what it was due to us being quite high up but it certainly looked like a Pokemon of some kind. I tried my hardest to look intensely to make out features but it was hopeless and I quickly looked at Ivy and Icy. I walked over to them and shook them awake. They nearly jumped upon me shaking them.

"W- what's going on…?!" Ivy exclaimed in surprise.

"Calm down. It's just me." I said.

"O- oh..." Ivy sighed deeply and let out an embarrassed giggle.

"S- sorry. This place has got me on edge." He said.

"Yeah, it is very unnerving." I said.

Ivy nodded and slowly got up with Icy.

"Well, uh… Why did you wake us up? Did something happen?" He asked.

"Um, somewhat. I swear I saw someone down at the street when I looked through the window." I told them.

"Hold up, seriously? It might be the one who took our amulet…!" He said and rushed to the door.

"Come on, lets go!" He said and opened the door.

"Um, okay." I said and followed as the two rushed down the many stairs.

Ivy stopped near the front door and looked through the glass panels. He scanned closely and tilted his head.

"Okay, I don't see anyone. Lets try and be quiet. Catch this Pokemon off guard." He said.

"Sounds good to me." I told him.

Ivy nodded and slowly opened the doors and stepped out. I followed him slowly as Icy followed behind me. We carefully walked around, trying not to make a single sound. We succeeded with making no sound as we made our way down the street.

"Okay guys… Follow me… I'll lead us to where I saw it." I whispered.

The two nodded as Ivy fell behind to start following behind me. After I took the lead, I started walking down the street and took a few turns.

We soon reached the area I saw the figure as we all got down and stared crawling. We started inching towards the area further and once we stopped, I slowly peaked over.

"W- what…?! I think we're too late. Crap..." I told myself as I did not see the figure.

"Dang. Do you see any clue where it could've went?" Icy asked.

"No. The spot I saw it at is now gone… Ugh..." I looked down and sighed.

"Don't worry. We'll find this Pokemon. Lets search around for a bit. See if it left any clue on where it went." Ivy said.

I nodded and got up. I jumped over the small stone wall we were hidden behind as I walked to where the figure was. I looked around and tilted my head.

"Okay… Lets see..." I said.

My eyes scanned the nearby area and I saw nothing. Thinking maybe it hid something, I started turning over large objects like rocks, ripping up weeds and searching through the trashcans nearby. There was completely nothing and I sighed heavily. The last form of action I had was to turn over a large stone bench. I called the two over as we somewhat struggled, but we managed to turn it over. Not wanting to create a loud noise in case somethings nearby, we carefully laid it on it's side. It was hard and our grip almost slipped, but we managed to do so without causing much sound.

"Well, that's it… We searched every single thing here and nothing." I said.

"Hmm… This is pretty weird. Are you sure you saw someone?" Ivy asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." I sighed and sat down.

"Dang." Ivy said and looked around.

"This is all too weird. Someone is stalking us or something? Those traps… They were not set up until we headed back… So someone must've been spying on us. Then we were attacked and the medallion was stolen… I just can't understand it." Icy said.

"Whoever this is, I will find them and get the medallion back." I said.

"I know. I don't want to be here any longer then is needed." Ivy said.

Ivy got up and sighed.

"Okay, I'm going to check out the nearby shop. Maybe we can find something we can use." Ivy said.

"Alright, just be careful." Icy replied to him.

Getting up slowly, I nodded and told him the same as he walked off to the store about fifty feet away. We watched him enter then we looked at each other.

"Okay, I am unsure what to do anymore." I said.

"Same. But we can't give up. Look, I know that medallion radiates some kind of aura or energy. Too bad we don't have a Riolu or someone with aura abilities." Icy said.

"Yeah… It sucks. Lets just try and find something to point us in the right direction." I told her.

Icy nodded and wandered a bit away from me. The place we were in seemed to be some sort of concrete park with a few shops nearby. I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched from one of the dark shops interiors. It felt eerie but I shook off the feeling and looked closer.

"Lets see..." I spoke to myself and walked around.

I walked to the large stone fountain that was in the middle of this area and searched around in.

"No water, items, nothing." I said softly.

I looked around for a bit more and looked up. As I looked up I stumbled back in surprise.

"W- what the..." I said.

My eyes fell upon a glinting in the sky. It wasn't long before it shot through the sky and right over us. The speed it went was unnatural as I watched it crash in the forest behind us.

"What was that…?!" Icy said as she rushed up to me.

Her shouting caused Ivy to run out and up to us.

"What happened?!" Ivy exclaimed.

Icy quickly explained what we saw and he looked very confused.

"U- um… Fallen star?" He said.

"I have no idea. Lets try and find it though." I said.

They nodded as we started running to the crash site.

As we gotten closer, we started seeing a faint blue. I told them that I saw it as we started running faster. When we reached the site, I noticed a decent size crater as I stopped near the edge. I looked around and saw the item that fell.

"There…!" I said and carefully slid down the crater.

Once at the bottom, I walked towards the item and got near it.

"Huh…? This isn't… A star." I said.

What I was looking at looked like a metal piece of something. I was completely baffled at what this was as my paw reached towards it. My paw stopped just inches from the item as I started thinking.

"This can legit melt my skin off. It doesn't feel hot… But I know some stuff can radiate no heat and still be blazing hot." I told myself and looked up at the two.

"Something the matter? What is it?" Ivy asked.

"I… Actually have no idea. It seems like some sort of object from like a plane. Like a piece of it's hull." I said.

"That's odd. I heard no planes or helicopters at all." Ivy said.

"Yeah, I am unsure… I'm a bit afraid to touch it." I said.

"I can possibly help." Icy said and slid down to me.

Icy walked up to me and looked at the item.

"Yeah, looks like some sort of hull piece." Icy said and lowered herself.

Icy reached out and slowly picked it up. She told me it wasn't that hot as she got up with the piece and started climbing out. I followed and slowly got to the top.

The last thing I remember when getting to the top was a stinging pain though. I inhaled deeply and held the side of my head and fell to my knees. It wasn't long until I saw only darkness as I fainted, landing on the ground hard.

Before fainting completely, I heard muffled and distorted voices that soon turned into shouts. My eyes struggled to open as it was very blurry but I managed to see Ivy and Icy fall on the ground. I was unable to think due to the massive pain as I saw someone in complete black who slowly walked up to me.

The figure looked at me and soon I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as the figure kicked with all it's might. This was enough to knock me out completely as I laid there, unknowingly of what was going on.

I don't know how long it was until I finally awoke. When I woke up, I groaned and held my head tightly.

"W- what… Ju… U- uh… S- sh..." I slurred.

My vision was blurred to the point that I was unsure where I even was. The only sense that worked was feel and I was cold. It felt like I was laying in a cold and smooth surface and I had no idea what it was. I just laid there for a bit as my vision slowly regained. When I was finally able to see, I looked around and noticed I was in a bathtub.

"W- wha…?" I groaned.

I dragged myself out of the tub and grabbed the nearest thing to pull myself up. Upon getting up with legs shaking.

"Ivy…? Icy…?" I shook my head softly and looked around.

Making myself to the door, I leaned into it and turned the knob, opening the door. Slowly walking out, I took note of my surroundings. It looked like a hotel room as it was pretty small.

"Jeez… What happened…?" I spoke and walked around.

I walked with a limp and held on random stuff to prevent from falling. I walked down the hall and soon reached a door that I opened slowly and looked in. It looked like a bedroom as I walked in and looked. I soon discovered Ivy and Icy who laid on the bed.

"Guys?" I spoke and walked closer.

Upon getting to the bed, I fell and groaned softly. I slowly looked up and saw the two slowly waking up. Ivy was the first to see me and looked surprised.

"W- where are we…?!" He suddenly jolted up.

I held my head and groaned even more with his voice.

"Chill… Head is killing me..." I said.

Ivy's voice quickly dimmed.

"O- oh, sorry. But seriously. Where are we?" He said.

"I have no idea… I woke up in the bathroom..." I said, paws still on my head.

Ivy quickly woke Icy up and they both got up, helping me and exited the room. We walked outside as it was dark. This place was very different from where we were as it looked like a completely different town. Non of the large buildings were in view and I was so confused.

"We… Need to get out of here..." I said softly.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same. Come on, we'll help you." Ivy said.

The two placed my arms around their necks and walked me away from that hotel room. We walked down the stairs and reached what looked like a parking lot.

"Any idea where to go?" Icy said.

"No. We just need to leave this place… That psycho that attacked us could've just left for a moment and could be back any minute." Ivy said.

"Yeah, um… Lets just head down the road then cut into the forest to prevent being followed again." Icy told Ivy.

Ivy agreed as they started walking me down the road for about a hundred feet before cutting a sharp left and entered the forest. They dragged me through the thick brush and trees before finding a little opening. They sat me down on a tree log that have fallen.

"Okay, you look pretty jacked up. Icy, stay with him. Before we entered the forest, I saw a department store further down the street from the hotel. I'll try and scavenge some stuff." Ivy said.

"A- alright. Just be careful… And hurry. It's too dark to be going off to places alone." Icy replied.

Icy nodded and quickly rushed out as Icy stayed with me. She bent down and looked at me.

"You look like you're about to faint again. Just try and take it easy. We'll take care of everything and I'll tell you what happened before I was knocked out." She said.

All I could was nod and panted, feeling my vision fade slightly.

In what felt like half an hour, I finally heard noises behind me that echoed in my head. Icy looked up as I tried turning around. The one who was making the noise was Ivy who returned. He had a large camping bag on his back.

"I was in luck. I found some camping gear and thankfully some food." He said.

"Food…?! Finally…!" Icy exclaimed and nearly tackled him.

"Whoa, calm down. We need to be quiet and before we eat, we need to set our camp up." Ivy said.

Icy sighed deeply and agreed, looking down and getting up from him as Ivy got up. He unstrapped the bag from his body as it fell to the ground. He then unpacked the tent content as the two began building it.

When they finished it five minutes later, they started a small fire. Small enough to not get major attention as they cooked some food. When they finished cooking the food, Ivy offered me some as I slowly took it. My vision was crap as I tried eating.

It was difficult, but I managed to finish most of it before looking at Ivy.

"Whatever happened to you, you honestly look like hell. Lets get you to sleep. We'll keep an eye for anything suspicion." He told me.

I was too tired to protest and I honestly needed to rest my eyes, so I just simply agreed as he guided me to the tent. I slowly crawled in as Ivy zipped the flap up as I laid there. My eyes closed instantly as it wasn't long until I was fully out...


	14. Icy's Find

I awoke in a daze. My vision was so blurry as I slowly sat up.

"D- damn…" I groaned.

Rubbing my eyes slowly, I shivered as my breath shook as I exhaled. Looking around slowly, my vision was so jacked and I couldn't see anything other then a blurred and distorted view. Luckily however my vision cleared up enough over time and I got up. Slowly getting to the entrance of the tent, I unzipped it and slowly walked out.

With me nearly tripping out, I stood up slowly and stumbled as I tried making out the area. I tried speaking but I was still weak and it only came out as a slurred tone.

With my legs still weak, I couldn't get myself up any longer and I fell to the ground, panting and shaking.

"Gold?" A voice came in a distorted tone.

Slowly looking up, Ivy was there and looked over me before grabbing my arms. I inhaled deeply as my body was so sensitive.

"You should get back into bed." He said.

"Huh…? N- no… I… I'm… Fine..." I spoke softly.

"You sure? Still look pretty messed up." He said.

I tried getting to my feet but failed as Ivy held me. He looked at me and sighed softly.

"Icy…? Come help me." His voice echoed.

Through my weak vision, Icy walked up and helped Ivy as they picked me up. This caused me to panic slightly due to it feeling like I was falling. They tried to keep a hold on me as I kicked around. The two managed to keep me however and luckily didn't drop me.

The two brought me over to a campsite and gently laid me down. I continued to kick slowly as I shook.

"What is wrong with him? Feels like he was drugged with something powerful." Icy spoke over me.

"I have no idea… Lets just try and watch over him until it's over." Ivy said.

"Sure thing. Lets take turns watching him… The one who isn't watches the campsite to see if anyone is nearing." Icy said.

The two continued to talk but I began to drown it out. My head was just so pained and even though I wanted to listen, my head was just too destroyed at the moment and soon it turned everything into a distorted, unrecognizable voices and sounds. Before I knew it, I ended up passing out laying next to the fire.

"..."

"W- what…?"

"W- where is..."

"Wake up..."

"H- huh…? W- wh..." I spoke in a daze.

"Come on, wake up."

I reached my paw up to my face and gently rubbed my eyes. I then soon opened my eyes and slowly looked around to notice that I was in a room. I was confused as I slowly sat up before gasping in pain and fell on my back.

"Whoa… Take it easy." A voice came.

My eyes looked around and noticed Ivy who sat there and was mixing something in a bowl.

"I- Ivy…?" I spoke in a broken voice.

"You're alright. Just try and take it easy for now..." He said.

"What happened…?" I asked.

"You were out for like five hours. It's still night but we had to move since we started hearing some odd noises." He said.

"N- noises?" I asked and managed to sit up.

"Yeah. Not sure what they were… It was like rustling and stuff. Not wanting to take a chance, we grabbed you and ran off." He said.

"Oh..." I replied.

"In our haste to get away, we sorta dropped you once… So expect to be hurting on your side for a bit since well… You landed on a rock pretty painfully." He said.

"That explains the pain..." I said, sighing and holding my side.

"Yeah, sorry about that… Icy is currently out looking for food." He said.

"How much do we have left?" I asked.

"Not much. I hope she finds something. At least enough for us to find that medallion." He said.

"Yeah, I hope… Anyways, how far did we travel?" I asked again.

"About six miles or so." He replied.

"Six miles? Jeez… And it's not even dawn yet?" I sounded surprise.

"At least it made traveling easier. Hmm… Anyways, you should rest a bit." He said.

"Y- yeah…" I said softly and looked out a window.

Sighing softly, I just stared out into the dark night. There was nothing special out there other then broken down buildings and an endless looking forest outside the city limits. I looked down slowly and closed my eyes before turning back and looking around. Ivy was just doing his own thing as I walked towards the door the lead out of the room.

"We should stay here until Icy comes back, so make sure not to travel." He said.

"I know." I replied and walked out.

I then left the room, leaving Ivy behind as I walked around the building. It was surprisingly maintained unlike the rest of this strange realm.

"Hmm…"

Stepping towards cabinets and other storage, I began looking through all of them. All were empty and right before I gave up, I opened one last cabinet and noticed it was full of stuff. Tilting my head, I looked through it and made sure it wasn't me going crazy.

After I inflicted pain, it was clear I wasn't crazy or dreaming as this cabinet had bags that were unmarked.

"Ivy?" I called out.

Ivy soon walked out and stopped to see what I found. He looked surprised and walked over to me quickly as he checked the contents.

"This was here all this time? Damn, I gotta start looking more." He mumbled.

He then proceeded to carry the bags out of the cabinet and placed it on a table. Looking at the bags, they were all unmarked. It was just a pile of plain grayish bags with no words.

"MRE?" Ivy asked.

"I… Am not sure. What would military food be doing here? Unless..." I stopped.

Ivy looked at me.

"Eh, I highly doubt the military will somehow be here." I said.

"Yeah, I saw no guns, bodies or military vehicles. Maybe it's just something someone stashed here and never came back." He said.

Ivy nodded and looked at the bags before grabbing one. He then began moving it around and feeling it. He sighed and placed it down, announcing he couldn't make out what it was.

"Food? Supplies? Guess we have one way to find out." I said, grabbing a glass shard.

"Better be careful with that." He said.

Nodding, I carefully cut through the bag at the top. I managed to rip it a decent amount before placing the shard down and ripping the rest with my paw. It was pretty easy and once the top was torn off, I peeked in. My confusion made Ivy interested in what I found.

Ivy took the bag from me and instantly looked confused just like I was.

"Is this… Rice?" He spoke.

He then poured what looked like rice all over the table. The stuff in the bag did look like rice but it didn't look like it in a way.

"This sorta looks like random stuff you put in a beanbag or something." I said.

"Eh, wanna try and cook it?" He asked.

"What? No, could be something deadly." I said.

"Seriously? We probably would've been dead right now if it was." He said.

"I… Guess… But this doesn't look like food. Lets just wait for Icy to come back, alright?" I told him.

Ivy sighed and nodded slowly and looked at the content. I looked at the other bags and picked one up. This one felt much heavier then that 'rice' bag. I told Ivy about it and picked the shard back up. Carefully ripping the top like the last bag, I gently ripped across it and once I removed the top, I looked in and I looked surprised.

"Holy crap..." I spoke.

"Hmm? What is it?" Ivy asked.

"Um..." I stopped for a moment.

I reached my paw into the bag and pulled out a pistol.

"The hell? A pistol? Jeez… Be careful with that." Ivy said.

"I know how to… Handle it." I stopped in the middle.

"You sure about that…? Sorta stuttered there." He said.

"Yeah, I know how to handle one… Um… Kinda." I replied.

Looking over the pistol, it was a jet black pistol and had a loaded magazine in it. I smiled nervously and flicked the safety on before slowly placing it on the table.

"Uh… Yeah, lets try and not touch it." I told him.

"Seems good to me." Ivy shrugged and took the pistol.

Ivy gently placed the pistol back into the bag and made sure to unload the clip. He then looked at it.

"Yeah, this is fully loaded. Who would've stashed this away?" He asked.

"I am not sure. Hmm… Lets just not mess with it, alright? I don't want to use a possible murder weapon. Hell, I don't want to use any weapon." I said.

"Yeah, that's true. Anyways… Icy has been gone for a bit and I'm starting to get worried." He said.

"Wanna go search for her? I feel better enough to walk." I replied.

"You sure you can walk?" He asked.

Nodding, I slowly got up and held my side which still stung softly but not enough to ground me. Ivy just shrugged and nodded before getting up himself. He then looked at me and motioned me towards the door.

Ivy and I then walked to the door and opened the door. We walked down and into the streets not long after.

"Okay… I think she will be at the giant mall complex a few blocks down." He said.

"Alright, lets get going." I said.

Ivy nodded as we made our way to the area. The road we walked down was so damn quiet and I wasn't sure if someone was lurking in the dark alleys. After being attacked before, I was on edge as I stuck close to Ivy who was also on alert. The only noises we were was a soft blowing wind and our footsteps. Luckily however we reached the mall without anything happening. Once we got to the mall, Ivy lead me to the front doors. I reached my paw out and gripped the handle as I pulled. The door wouldn't open as I yanked harder but it wouldn't budge.

"Ugh… Think she went and found a door on the side…?" I asked.

"I think. Lets look." He replied.

Walking alongside the front of the mall, I suddenly stopped as Ivy ran into my back.

"Huh…? Why'd you stop?" He asked.

"Quiet..." I whispered.

Ivy did what I said as I listened carefully. I didn't move as I heard slight rustling that wasn't wind blowing a bag or something. This rustling was by someone. I told Ivy is a very hush tone as he nodded, hearing it too at this point as I slowly reached the corner of the mall's wall. I very slowly peaked over and noticed nothing at first but then I noticed it. Someone was at a dumpster just out of view. The only part I saw was their back which was covered by a thick jacket that was brownish red. They were doing something just behind it and I started wondering what this was about.

"Okay… I see someone at the dumpster. Stay on guard… We're going to catch them off guard." I said.

"Sure… Lead the way." He replied.

Letting out a small nod, I started to very sneakily move towards the figure which didn't move as they continued making rustling noises. Looking at Ivy, I pointed to a position as he nodded and slowly made it to where I pointed. I however continued making my way towards the Pokemon. I masked my breathing with the rustling to prevent them from hearing me as I made it just a few feet from them.

After getting right behind them, I suddenly wrapped my arms around them, hearing them gasp in surprise as I lifted them and swung in an 180, pinning them to the ground.

"W- what's going on…?!" They said.

I didn't think as I removed their hood to notice it was Icy who struggled.

"Huh? Icy?" I spoke.

"Wait, Icy? Damn it… What were you doing right there?" Ivy sounded a bit annoyed.

Letting go of her, she got up quickly.

"Sorry for the scare… I found this really nice and warm jacket while looking through the mall..." She said.

"You scared both of us, that's for sure..." I sighed.

"Yeah, sorry again…" She looked down.

"It's fine. Anyways, why were you by the dumpster?" I asked.

"Oh… I was trying to find something to hold what I found." She said.

"Found? You actually found something?" I asked again.

"Yeah. This mall was actually quite a stash. There were a decent amount of food and other supplies." She replied.

"Huh…?! Sweet, we're gonna survive!" Ivy exclaimed.

Icy smiled and nodded, pointing towards the door she managed to pry open.

"Anyways, glad you two are here. Lets grab the stuff I collected since it's a decent amount." She told us.

Nodding, we both followed her as we walked into the mall and began grabbing a few bags of food and other supplies. It wasn't an insane amount, but enough to survive about two days which was pretty nice. I told Icy that she did good with this and she smiled, nodding at me.

As we continued walking, we made it back to the building and once we entered, we just walked back to our room and placed the bags down.

"This is pretty nice I gotta say." I said.

"Yeah, lets try and make it last and hope we find that medallion soon." Ivy replied.

"It would be nice to get out of here honestly..." Icy said.

"I know… Anyways, we should gear up to get ready to move." I told them.

"Uh… You sure? Every time we traveled we ended up getting attacked. And the last time we lost the medallion..." Ivy spoke.

"We gotta move quick before whoever stole it leaves." I told him.

"I suppose but seriously… It's going to be hard finding them." He looked at me.

"Not really. Remember…? It leaves like a beacon sometimes. It feels like it changes however… Maybe it changes every so often. Like… It maybe changes to like a solid beacon or maybe a flash." I said.

"Um… You are making no sense." He said.

Letting out a sigh, I explained.

"If I recall correctly… I saw the medallion letting off a solid beacon but after a bit it changed to like a slow pulse. So maybe… It means it's getting closer or further?" I looked confused.

"I don't remember seeing the beacon change at all. Are you sure you're doing alright?" He looked a bit concerned.

"Ugh… Maybe it's just my eyes… Alright, alright, we'll rest for a bit." I sighed and sat.

The two agreed with that and joined me as we started cooking some stuff that Icy found within the mall...


End file.
